I Used To Be
by Disturbed Muffin
Summary: At some point in my life, there was no zipper. I was zipper-free. Zipperless. Completely void of anything remotely close to zippery. Ambrose/DG.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't Ambrose, Glitch, or Tin Man in general. Believe me, if I owned Glitch...you'd know, because I'd talk about it often. _

**One**

I was the youngest advisor ever hired by royalty in the history of the Outer Zone. I should know; the day after I was hired, I went down to  
thearchives and checked. What? I wanted to be absolutely sure that I was in a unique position. Who doesn't like feeling special...and I'm  
getting off track. The point was that I was rather young. I'd gotten the job after my uncle fell ill. He was the Queen's old advisor, and I always  
enjoyed tagging along with him and helping him at his job, even if helping consisted of me sitting there watching him in his lab, out of what he  
would refer to as "harm's way". It drove my father crazy; he was a general in the army, and wanted me to follow in his footsteps, not pour over  
science books and invent what he so eloquently referred to as "silly things." For the record, they're not silly. They're important and smart, and  
I'll fight to the death anyone who tells me otherwise...well maybe not to the death. That sounds unpleasant. It's certainly not plan A. It's not  
even plan B.

Anyways, my uncle fell ill at probably the most inopportune moment-not that there's ever a good moment, but if there was a moment to fall ill,  
when he did certainly wasn't it. The queen was dealing with problems in the robotic community. She was under a great deal of pressure and  
though her husband did all he could for her, the fact remained that he was from the Other Side, and though he may have learned an awful lot  
since arriving in the Outer Zone, there are some things only a local can do. The Queen had often observed me helping my uncle, correcting his  
mistakes, giving advice (unbeknownst to either of us, of course-being out of harm's way meant not interfering with royalty, after all). She  
summoned me in one day, after my uncle declared he was too sick to work. To say I was nervous would be the biggest understatement of the  
_millennium_, but she was the Queen. I had to obey.

"Ah, here we are," she said the moment I walked in, "the advisor's advisor."

"Your Majesty," I bowed.

"Oh, there's no need for that, Ambrose. You're as much family to me as your uncle is."

I was about to say that my uncle wasn't related to her, but I realized she meant figuratively, and snapped my mouth shut before I could

embarrass myself.

"Thank you," I said instead.

"How is he?"

I shook my head, "Not good, your majesty. I wish I could say otherwise, but it's possible that he's worse than he was a week ago."

The Queen looked stricken at the thought, "That's terrible. He's been with me a long time. That is why I called you here. You see, his  
unfortunate state has come at the worst time and I need someone to take his place temporarily."

I nodded sympathetically, "And how are you doing, your majesty?"

It occurred to me after the words left my mouth that I was not my uncle; I was not on such familiar terms with the Queen and could not speak

to her in such a way. However, she smiled, as if grateful for my asking.

"I'm fine," she smiled.

I simply smiled, unsure what to say. Luckily, she broke the silence almost immediately.

"Ambrose, would you take over your uncle's job? You will of course be paid exactly the same remuneration he earned, and will have all his  
privileges. You will not be cheated out of anything, and you'd be doing a great service to me and all the land."

"O-of course! I'd love to!"

The Queen grinned, "I was going to give you the night to think about it..."

"Oh, no, really your majesty, that's alright, I'll do it!"

The Queen laughed out loud at this, "Oh, you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you so enthusiastic. You may move into your uncle's quarters tomorrow."

I hesitated at that. My father was not going to be pleased. Something about my uneasiness must have showed on my face, because the Queen frowned as well.

"Is something the matter, Ambrose?"

"Well...it's just...my father...he sort of wants me to be like him, you see, and he already thinks I'm this _huge_ bookworm as it is, so he won't...like this at all."

"Well, you just tell him that advising the Queen is just as much serving your land as going off to battle the most fearsome of enemies. Furthermore, you can tell him that if he has such a problem with it, he can confront _me_."

I shivered at the thought of those lavender eyes staring down at my father. He was strong man, but there was powerful magic behind that gaze. Though perhaps that wouldn't do much to sway him. My father thought physical strength was the be all and end all of power. Science was useful, but it couldn't help you survive months on your own in the wild somewhere. Why I would be alone in the wild was lost on me, but he always gave me the impression that it would happen at some point. Magic, he said, was worse. At least you worked to become great in science. You could accomplish something, even if it wasn't the something my father had in mind. Magic was the lazy way out, or so he said. I didn't have the heart to correct him and tell him that it took years of study to be even remotely good with magic. He wouldn't have listened to me anyways, and besides, I was a man of science; magic just never took to me. I grinned up at the Queen, bowed, and bolted home to tell my parents.

* * *

"That's wonderful dear!" my mother had me in a bear hug before I could even finish my announcement.

"Mum..." I gasped, "brain...dribbling...out my ears...need air!"

She let go of me with a sigh, "Always exaggerating, Ambrose."

I laughed and shook my head, then turned to my father. He sat at our kitchen table, in full uniform no less! I gulped at the look he was giving me, and very nearly cowered in fear as he rose from his seat.

"So, you're not going to take after me then?"

"Oh, darling, don't be so-" my mother began, but was cut off.

"-I don't like it," he said firmly, "I don't like it one bit."

I bit my lip, mentally preparing myself to go on the defence, when suddenly my father let out a sigh.

"But it would seem I don't have a choice. You want to do it...and it is only temporary. The fact that the Queen asked you personally must mean something, right?" a small, barely visible smile formed on his face, "so I guess I approve."

My reaction was somewhat...immature...

"YES!" I jumped up and down, "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

And then I promptly ran up to my room to pack, the eyes of my parents following me out of the room as I ran.

The next morning was probably one of the most humiliating moments of my entire life. I stood outside of the house with my bag, and the taxi was waiting to whisk me away. Not the wording I would have chosen, but that's the exact thing my mother said to me as she tearfully hugged me until I thought my head was going to pop off and roll away.

"Mum! I'm not dying!" I sighed when she finally let me go, "I'll be back as soon as the Queen is well again."

"Or until your uncle is well again."

"Exactly."

"Come on, come on, I haven't got all day!" the cab driver shouted.

"You're being paid, you can wait five more seconds!" my father barked, before turning to me, "Well, son, you've done well for yourself, I must admit. Good luck."

I grinned, "Thanks. I should probably go. I think that vein in the driver's temple is about to pop."

I dumped my stuff in the seat next to me and stuck my head out the window.

"I'll be home soon!" I called to my mother, who was making no effort to hide her tears. My father put an arm around her shoulders and gave me a stiff nod and he even waved. The car pulled away from out house, and as my parents faded from sight, I smiled to myself. Sometimes, people surprised you.

* * *

My day pretty much started the moment I arrived. My uncle's quarters were more or less devoid of his more personal belongings, though when I wandered into his lab, I found some half-completed inventions. I had just begun examining one of them, when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Barely unpacked and already working?"

I whirled around, only to come face to face with the King.

"Your highness," I bowed, but he rolled his eyes.

"Give me a break," he snorted.

"I...I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"When we're not at some formal court function, you don't have to be so...well, formal."

"I see...alright."

"You're not going to obey that, are you?"

"In all honesty, sir, it's not likely," I grinned.

"Well, sir is alright I guess. Just lay off the whole 'your highness' stuff when we're talking like this. It still makes me feel weird after all these  
years."

I was completely baffled by this man, in all honesty. He was the first Other Sider I'd ever met, and he was speaking to me as if we were equals.

I couldn't help but gawk, and he laughed at my reaction. Sensing that he wasn't making fun of me, I grinned nervously.

"I wish I could say I was here for the sake of meeting you, but the fact is, we could really use you right now. Can you unpack later?"

"Of course!" I said.

"Good, follow me then."

He led me up several flights of stairs into a meeting room, where the Queen sat at a brilliantly carved writing desk, looking like she'd rather be in bed.

"Ambrose; all settled?"

"Nearly, your majesty," I bowed, and the King fought to conceal a snort, "I understand you are in need of my services?"

"Oh, very much so. You see, there is a struggle occurring just south of here. The robotic community is up in arms over their mistreatment by the humans. They insist they are independent, but we do not as of yet have laws regarding the absolute independence of our mechanical neighbours. You're aware of the Robotic Decrees, yes?"

"Yes."

"Well, the humans wish to farm the land that the robots live on, as they are suffering from severe famine, and the robots say it's an invasion of territory."

"But it was originally the territory of the people who made them in the first place," Ambrose finished and the Queen nodded, "well, your majesty, as much as I sympathize with the robotic community, the fact of the matter is that they can live without food, but humans can't."

"So I should side with the humans?"

"I see no reason why humans would have to invade, however. Robots want to be treated as humans, correct?"

"Yes, they do. They very nearly are."

"Pay them then."

"You suggest we pay them for the use of their land?"

"It's what you'd do with fighting humans?"

"I'd insist that the land one community used would have to be paid for."

"Exactly. They want to be treated as humans; if you treat them as such, they'll have nothing to complain about."

Giving advice made me nervous, but the Queen looked thoughtful.

"One moment," she said, and then she waved her hand in the air, and it rippled, turning white under her light touch; a speech spell.

"We have a proposition for you," she said into the fog, and as I moved to look into it, I could clearly see a face in the white fog that was once simply the air. The head of the robotic community was looking back at her.

"I'm willing to hear it."

"You have campaigned for equal rights with humans, and we are willing to give them to you, meaning we settle this as though it were two warring human communities. We propose that you allow them to farm your land if they pay you. We'll send in provisions to assist them as well, of course, but this seems like a fair option."

The leader looked thoughtful, and then asked, "Am I to understand that the Robotic Decrees will be modified and make us absolutely independent?"

The Queen hesitated and looked both to the King and to me.

"Don't look at me," the King said quietly, so that the leader couldn't hear, "I'm still trying to get passed the idea that something created by someone else could want independence so...forcefully."

"Your majesty, I would recommend sitting down with the Robotic leaders and discussing this face to face in a conference," I whispered, "You get the opinions of all robotic communities and can come up with an agreement that suites everybody."

The Queen nodded and turned the leader, "would you and your peers be willing to join me for a conference? We could discuss all our business there. A speech spell is rather informal, wouldn't you agree?"

The leader nodded, "Very well. I will contact the other Leaders."

"Is next Monday suitable for you?"

"I should think so. I will contact you with any changes, of course."

"Of course," the Queen smiled, "have a lovely evening."

Another brush of her hand and the spell was complete.

"That was impressive, Ambrose," she said, "though I don't know how the humans will feel about paying machines..."

"They're paying for a service," I shrugged, "also; I doubt the competing human community was even the ones who built them?"

"Oh no, they were built in Central City."

"Exactly. These robots, as far as I can see, owe these people nothing and are providing them with a service that requires compensation."

The Queen nodded, "That seems reasonable. Now there's the matter of this conference. This has to be well planned out. Think you can manage planning it for me, Ambrose? There are a great many other things to attend to, and planning a conference is really one more level of stress that I don't need."

"My apologies; I wouldn't have suggested it if I had known."

"Don't worry, this is my job," she gave a small smile, "you may go."

I bowed again, nodded to the King, and returned to my rooms, after much wandering around in attempt to locate them again. It's a castle, so  
it was pretty big, obviously. I lay down on my bed and stared up at the canopy with a smile. I'd done well for my first day, and now I was planning a government conference! I sat up, basking in the feeling of being useful. Special, even. Then I promptly got up and went down to the archives to do the previously mentioned task of ensuring my uniqueness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two**

The next few days were busy. I was running this way and that, preparing the conference hall, finding information on all the Robotic Leaders, ensuring that everything down to the decor in the conference hall was appropriate and would not offend.

"You need to remove that portrait of Lord Sparrow Grim," I told one of the maids.

"But he was one of the court's most loyal friends," the maid replied, looking as though I'd told her to simply keel over and die; which I would never do by the way. That's disgusting.

"He was also one of the original preachers of eternal robotic dependence when the Decrees were being written. Besides, he's been dead for centuries; I highly doubt he's going to find out. Put it up after they leave."

The maid look scandalized, but obeyed just the same. I sighed, and looked at my checklist. Things were all in order, as far as I could tell.

"Everything seems to be working perfectly."

All eyes flew to the doorway, and everyone bowed to the Queen.

"Yes, your majesty, everything is right on track."

"That's excellent," she sighed and sat down in the nearest chair, looking tired.

"Are you alright, majesty?"

"Oh, yes, yes, everything is fine."

I nodded, "Is there anything I can get you?"

"Water would be nice, if you don't mind."

"You there, get the Queen some water," I said, and the maid nodded and hurried out, returning moments later with a glass of water and child attached to one of her legs.

"Az, where is your nurse?" the Queen laughed, accepting the water with a nod of thanks. The princess Azkadellia looked up and grinned.

"Hide and seek."

"Oh, Az," the Queen sighed, "you've probably scared the poor woman half to death!"

"She was scurrying around the kitchens," the maid smiled.

"My little mouse," the Queen smirked.

"Squeak!" she giggled.

"Alright, go back to the nursery before you give the woman a heart attack."

"Does she need an escort?" I asked as the girl of only four annuals ran out.

"No, Azkadellia is rather responsible for her age," the Queen said proudly.

I nodded absentmindedly, not knowing the first thing about children.

"Actually, Cal should be coming for a visit soon," the Queen rose stiffly and sighed, "I'm sorry for this; I only wanted to see how you were doing."

"If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask," I bowed. The Queen smiled and elegantly left the room. I stared at the door, and then turned to one of the servants.

"Who is Cal?"

"He's the son of a Western nobleman and the princess' future husband and our future king."

"An arranged marriage?" I said distastefully.

"Not entirely. It's traditional for the parents to arrange something foolproof for their children, but if either party at any point does not agree, they can always back out."

"I see..." I sighed. Taking a break from planning made me aware of how long I'd been at it, "alright, everyone, take a ten minute break. You've been working all day."

A few people mumbled their thanks, while several others ran to use the bathroom. I slumped down into a chair and rubbed my eyes. Of course, it hadn't helped that I'd spent all night fixing my uncle's inventions. His ideas were brilliant, but I could see that the disease was inhibiting him from doing good work. Luckily, I was there to make the necessary corrections.

And suddenly, it was the day of the conference. While the Queen was obviously in charge of the ordeal, both the King and-as I was shocked to discover-myself were required to attend. We sat down at a large table, the King on one side of the Queen, and myself on the other, the farthest away from the robots, which-to be honest-I was grateful for, because the moment they saw how young I was, they were barely able to hide their laughs.

"To business then," the Queen said, "I understand you wish to be treated exactly like humans?"

"That is our will..."

"Most of us," another Leader said sharply, "some of us would see robotic superiority."

"That is unreasonable and out of the question," the Queen said sharply.

"She is right," a third said, "they are our origins. To dismiss them would be a deep sin."

"Sin? Ha!"

"We simply want respect, your majesty," the first Leader said.

"There is the matter of those who were programmed to serve."

"Stop programming us to serve, then!"

I looked down at the table. This was not as civilized as I'd thought it would be. The Queen remained calm and respectful, but some of the  
Leaders would not stop yelling out their opinions for five seconds!

"Welcome to government," the King muttered, and I gave a weak nod.

"-the fact of the matter is, the act of programming a robot for a specific task is the exact same as brainwashing small children into doing things against their will."

"It's nothing like that at all," the king retorted.

"Why not simply add the ability to choose into their programming?" I asked quietly, looking up for the table, "they'll know how to do the job they were designed to do, but also have the option of not doing it."

Everyone stared at me, and the Queen spoke slowly, "that's an interesting idea."

"But there is still the matter of programming for specific-"

"-Humans created machines to serve them," I said in a sharp voice, one that I didn't even know I possessed until that moment, "you have artificial intelligence, which makes you equal to humans mentally, emotionally, and somewhat physically. As this is the case, surely you know that humans are good at some things but not at others. I am rather gifted in the field of science, but put me in the same room as magics and I'm as stumped as anyone. This is no different. We don't _choose_ what _we're_ good at, sir, so why should you?"

Now I felt I truly commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

"That's actually a remarkable point," the Queen said, sounding impressed, "I'm willing to pass a mandatory law requiring that mechanics place the idea of choice in any machines with artificial intelligence and that humans allow robots to use this choice without giving them any trouble."

"I agree," one of the Leaders said, "if we are to be true equals, we must take the faults as well as the benefits."

"I also agree."

I'd like to say the agreement to my opinion was unanimous, but it wasn't. Still, it was the majority, and that was enough to convince the queen to give it a test period of three months. I returned to my rooms, beaming with pride at what I'd accomplished, and was about to take a much needed rest, when there was a knock on my door.

"Mister Ambrose, the queen needs you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Three**

Time flew by, and before I knew it, I'd been there for a year and a half. The Queen had become pregnant once more, with a little girl, who was proving to be quite difficult, even before she was born. My routine was a busy one, but I was enjoying it very much. All the nobles and leaders had gotten past my age and treated me with the same respect they reserved for my uncle. Even Azkadellia, who at first ignored me, eventually came up to me and asked me politely if I could build her a toy boat for her to use on the lake. I worked on it in my free time and even painted it bright blue for her. When it was finally done two weeks later, she was ecstatic and invited me out to test it with her. With all the happiness I was experiencing, I must admit, I was guilty of forgetting my family. I was sharply reminded one afternoon in late autumn.

"You know what, Princess; this may be the last day we have to play with this boat. It'll soon be too cold."

Azkadellia pouted, and then shivered as she placed the boat in the cold lake. The water was no doubt freezing.

"Well, maybe you're right, Mister Ambrose."

I laughed, then hearing the crunch of leaves, I rose (having been lying on my front), dusted the leaf bits off my coat, and turned to see the King walking over.

"Hello sir," I smiled.

"Daddy!" Azkadellia ran over to him and he hugged her.

"Az, why don't you go back inside? I think mommy wants you."

"Oh, what for?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go and see?"

"OK!" Az ran as fast as her little feet could carry her, always eager to please.

"She's adorable," I smiled.

"Yes, she is, which is why I hate lying to her."

"Sorry?"

"I sent her in to keep her occupied..." the King looked very grave.

"Is something the matter?" I asked, thinking that the pregnancy had somehow gone wrong.

"Ambrose," he put his hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your uncle passed away last night."

I bowed my head, "Oh..."

"Come on, let's get you back inside."

I didn't cry until that night when I was alone in my rooms. After all, they used to be his rooms and some of his stuff was still in there. I simply couldn't stay there that night, and after an hour of simply lying awake, I got out of bed, put on my clothes and coat, and went to walk around outside.

"Mister Ambrose?" I heard a voice whisper, and looking up, I saw a little brunette's head poking out of a nearby window.

"Princess, what are you doing awake?"

"The cook's giving me hot chocolate, but it's a secret so sssssh!"

I smiled, "That's nice of him."

"Do you want some?"

"Oh, no that's alright."

Azkadellia hesitated, and then spoke, looking at the sky as though ashamed to make eye-contact with me, "Mommy said that I had to go inside because daddy was giving you bad news. Is that true?"

I nodded, "Sadly, it is."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

"Mommy wouldn't tell me unless you gave the permission for me to know."

"My uncle died," I said.

"He was the one before you, right?"

"Yes."

"I knew him. Not as well as I know you. He was nice. I'm sad he's gone."

I tilted my head sideways and looked up at the young girl. It sounded so simple, of course, but that's what made her such a lovely child. She didn't beat around the bush regarding anything, and when she felt sad for anyone, she voiced it.

"You're a very sweet child, Azka-D."

Azkadellia wrinkled her nose, "That's a silly nickname."

I laughed and shivered, "I think I'll take you up on that hot chocolate after all."

"Come inside then. You're silly, why would you go out when it's cold anyways?"

I shook my head, "Haven't a clue."

* * *

The funeral was larger than I thought it would be, and the Queen and King both came and even approached me after the actual burial was completed.

"These are from Az," the King said, handing me flowers which I instantly knew were from the royal garden. They were tied with blue ribbon and on it was a card that simply said 'love from Azka-D' in shaky handwriting.

"She wanted to come, but we didn't think one as young as herself should be here," the Queen sighed.

"And she shouldn't," I agreed, "that's very sweet of her, though. Give her my thanks."

"Actually, I think you should tell her yourself when we get back," the King said.

I blinked. Honestly, I'd been under the impression that as there was no chance of my uncle recovering from death, they'd hire a new advisor. I was only supposed to be temporary, after all.

"Wh-what?"

"I'd like you to return as my official Advisor," The Queen said with a small smile, "I'll understand if you don't want to do it, as it wasn't part of the agreement. I did only say temporarily, but if you-"

"-Are you kidding, I'd love to!" I said, then stopped, "Sorry, your majesty, I shouldn't have interrupted."

"That's alright, Ambrose," she smiled, "I'm glad you're so enthusiastic."

"My parents are going to throw a fit," I said bluntly.

"I'll go talk with them," the King smirked, walking over to my parents, who I only just noticed were watching me from afar.

"Walk with me, Ambrose," the Queen said. I nodded and together we walked side by side, past various graves and headstones.

"There is...another matter I'd like to ask you about."

"Yes, majesty?"

"How old are you?"

That startled me, "I'll be eighteen in three months."

"Ah, you'll soon be an adult...which is why I'm asking you if you'd be willing to make a very adult decision."

"I-is this about the job, majesty?"

"No, Ambrose, it's about a completely different but equally important job. As you know, the princess will be born in only a short while, and certain things must be put into order...including marriage."

We both stopped and I smiled, "You'd like me to find potential husbands for her?"

"No, Ambrose, I was wondering if _you_ would be the potential husband for her."

Anything I was about to say got caught in my throat, and I coughed, turning away from the Queen, who patted my back nervously. I faced her again, rather red in the face.

"W-why me?"

"I've been watching you over the past while, Ambrose, and there's no one else I'd choose to be my son-in-law, should the day come. Of course, you know how this works; if either one of you wants to back out at any point, it can be done without a moment's hesitation."

"Yes, I'm well aware of how it works, but...I'm going to be many annuals older than her."

"My mother was many annuals older than my father," the Queen said, "there reaches a point where age stops meaning anything. It won't be right away, of course, but one day you'll look at her and she'll be your beautiful wife."

That made me turn bright red again, "How...how do you know this?"

"There are ways of seeing what the future will be for two people."

"You mean magic?"

"I do."

"So you magically saw what will happen in the future?"

"No," the Queen took my arm and we began walking again, "it is impossible to predict the future. I merely conjured a spell that showed the results of a marriage between the two of you should things between now and then go smoothly."

"If we get along?"

"If you two get along, if you keep your job as Advisor, as well as other factors. Peace in the Outer Zone, for example."

"So if everything goes well, we'd...work as a couple?"

"Splendidly, in fact; better than I foresaw Az and Cal. Do you accept the offer?"

I bit my lip and looked up. If all the factors went well, they'd be as good as soul mates, but if all things went wrong...but I couldn't constantly live my life in fear of something going wrong. If I did, none of my inventions would exist!

"I'll do it," I said, smiling.

"Ambrose, you have no idea how thrilled I am to hear that!" the Queen grinned broadly, "DG will love you."

"DG?"

The Queen smiled, "that's what we've decided to name her. Don't breathe a word, only family is allowed to know before we make the official declaration."

I nodded, secretly delighted in being referred to as family.

"Now, Ambrose, I think it's time we return home, don't you agree?"

I nodded, "Oh yes, your majesty, most definitely."

* * *

Princess DG was born only three weeks later, and the birth itself was rather difficult, so I heard. I was not in the room at the time, but was waiting outside with Azkadellia, who was standing on her chair.

"Azkadellia, get down," I sighed, looking lazily over at the soon to be older sister.

"You're nervous," she observed, sitting down and crossing her legs.

"And you're not?"

"A little. Worrying won't change anything though, will it? It certainly won't stop a baby."

I laughed a little at that, "No, I suppose that's true."

"You see, you're just nervous. Cal told me he was nervous when he heard I was born. You should talk to him."

I snorted at that; Cal fourteen years old. I was very nearly eighteen. I somehow doubted we'd be able to bond over the anxiety of waiting for our future wives to be born.

"Maybe another time," I sighed, rubbing my face.

"Tutor says that DG and I will have powerful magic together."

"Oh?"

Azkadellia had just started her magic lessons, which she was swallowing in gulps. She had a natural talent for it, just like her mother.

"Yeah, he said that siblings tend to have lots of power between them. Something to do with blood..."

"Blood?" I frowned, my scientific mind attempting to piece together a rational explanation.

"Or something like that. Something about two related things amplifying power..."

Magic was still completely lost to me in many ways, so I just sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day and looked up a ceiling. There was a spider crawling there and I shuddered. Creepy crawly things weren't my biggest fear, but they weren't exactly my favourite thing in the whole wide world. Azkadellia followed my gaze and wrinkled her nose, "That's gross."

"Usually they like to hide in the shadows if they can help it. There are probably dozens around here."

"Then they should stay hidden. I'm not scared of things I don't know about."

"Most people aren't. Ignorance is bliss and all..."

"What?"

"It's a saying. Ignorance is bliss. Things are happier for stupid people."

"Why?"

"Because they don't know about all the bad things in the world."

"But...you're the smartest person ever. Does that mean you're upset all the time?"

I blinked, "No, I'm not upset all the time."

"Does it make you upset some of the time?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I know things that other people don't that make me upset."

"Like what?"  
_  
Like the exact way my uncle's body is decomposing_, I thought sarcastically, but didn't say it out loud. That would have been far too macabre for such a small child. So, instead, I told her that because I know about spiders, I routinely checked under my bed for them. This was obviously a lie, but who wants to tell a five year old about dead people? That's just creepy. Besides, I hadn't been brooding about my uncle that much. Just, every now and then.

"Az," the King's head suddenly poked out of the doorway, "could you come in here, please?"  
Azkadellia jumped off the chair and hurried into the room. There was silence, and then I heard a loud squeal...and I mean a _loud_ squeal, because I couldn't even hear the baby crying, and yet Azka-D's voice was so damn loud...anyways...the squeal pretty much lurched me out of any thoughts I'd been contemplating. She was born, DG was...in the world now. That gave me chills just thinking about it. The person I'd spend my life with-should things go smoothly-now existed.

"Mister Ambrose," Azkadellia stuck her head out the door, stretching out the 'o' in my name into a weird sort of sing-song, "come on in!"

I rose from my chair, hesitated, then walked into the room. There was a hallway. How cruel of them to put a hallway between this room and the other room. Was that hallway always there?  
_  
Focus, Ambrose!_ I thought, mentally smacking myself as I trekked down the hallway and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

I opened the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind me. There lay the Queen, eyes half shut, holding a small bundle in her arms.

"Ambrose...my loyal Advisor..."

"Your majesty."

"Don't you want to look at her?"  
_  
No, I want to run away as fast as possible and come back when she's old enough to walk, talk, and eat without help.  
_  
"Oh...um...sure."

The King laughed and lightly shoved me forwards. I stumbled into the edge of the bed, and then moved jerkily until I was at the queen's side.

She held out the bundle to me, and I took it shakily.

The cutest thing in the entire world looked up at me. Her eyes were huge, and blue, and the moment she looked up at me she giggled.

"She's...she's adorable!" I grinned, holding her up. She reached out with one tiny fist, grabbed one of my curls, and began to chew on it. The  
King was howling with laughter at what the look on my face must have been (I imagine it was somewhat confused. Don't look at me like that; you've probably never had your hair chewed on before!), and the Queen smiled broadly. After an awkward pause, I began to laugh as well, carefully pulling my hair away and handing DG back to her mother.

"She's absolutely lovely," I said, feeling my face go red.

"She certainly seems to love you, Ambrose. I take it there are no thoughts of backing out?"

"No, none at all."

"Well, that's excellent," she sighed and shut her eyes, "if you'll excuse me, I need rest."

"Of course," I bowed and backed out of the room, crashing into Azkadellia, who'd been waiting for me outside.

"Isn't she great? We're going to have so much fun together!"

I nodded, feeling extremely hyper about the whole situation. Suddenly, I scooped Azkadellia up and threw her over my shoulder.

"Put me down!" she giggled.

"Let's go get some hot chocolate," I declared, and made for the kitchens without a second thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**Four**

A huge party was held in honour of the new princess. The more important members of the court-myself included-sat at the head table. I was seated next to the Queen, with the King on her other side, and Azkadellia on his other side. To my left was the Queen's uncle, who was oddly quiet and ignored me for most of the night.

"Jealous yet?" I asked Azkadellia when the King and Queen had risen from their seats to talk to some guests.

"I'm not jealous!" she protested, but her eyes flickered to the table of gifts for the baby."Tell you what," I sighed, "why don't we take that boat of yours outside tomorrow?"

"It'll be too cold."

"Well, maybe we could just go skating then. Do you know how to skate?"

Azkadellia shook her head.

"Tomorrow, I'll teach you once all my work is done, OK?"

Azkadellia nodded, satisfied, "OK. Are you going to teach DG how to skate when she's older?"

I paused and shrugged, "Maybe. I guess I'll see if she wants to."

"I don't think she will."

That drew a laugh from me, I'll admit. She said it so dismissively, but she was so young...it was just cute. I ruffled her hair lightly and looked around thoughtfully. What would I do with DG when she was older? I made the decision right there and then to let Azkadellia be the one who taught her to skate. I would teach her to dance. Dancing was something I'd taken to when I was young, much to my father's utter humiliation. My mother, however, loved to dance and was thrilled that I had what she referred to as 'her rhythm'. I took off the 'her' part almost immediately. It wasn't her's alone, now was it? Everyone could have it if they tried; that was my thought on the matter. They just needed to know what to do, and that would be my job with DG.

"And now the family has to give their gifts to the baby."

I froze. I had a gift, of course, but I didn't want to give it to her in front of all these people. Down the table, relatives and other important people rose to bestow gifts on the little princess, who had been placed in a crib just before the head table. Azkadellia rose when it was her turn and put a stuffed animal in the crib with her sister. It was one of her favourites, so it really was a significant gift.

Then it was my turn. Slowly, I approached the crib and looked in.

"Hello there," I said quietly, as DG looked up at me with those wide, blue eyes, "this must be really awkward for you, huh?"

DG simply blinked, my voice nothing but noise to her baby ears.

"Well, I think it's awkward," I whispered, "but that's alright, because you're getting a gift out of it."

I pulled locket from my pocket and dangled it over her. DG giggled and batted at it like a cat with string. I let it drop and she clutched in her tiny hands and fumbled  
with it. Surely a baby couldn't understand that a locket could open...could she? I opened it for her, to reveal the tiny spinning figure concealed within.

"It's like a portable music box!" Azkadellia said.

"It's a hologram, darling," the Queen whispered.

DG stared at the dancer and let out a loud giggle which made me grin uncontrollably as I returned to my seat.

* * *

Skating with Azka-D was an interesting experience. After I taught her the basic moves, I held out my hand.

"You just focus on staying up," I said, "I'll pull us along, alright?"

Azkadellia nodded nervously and took my hand.

"Ready, one...two...three..."

I took off, lightly pulling Az along with me. She trembled severely for a while, and then fell flat on her behind.

"It's no use! I can't do this!"

"Of course you can," I sighed, "come on, get up."

"I don't want to."

"Are you just going to sit on the ice all day?"

She nodded and pouted.

"You know what will happen if you sit there all day? Your bum will freeze to the ice and you'll be stuck there until spring."

"Will not, you're making that up!"

"Am not!" I pretended to look offended, "I never lie."

Az looked thoughtful, "I'll really be stuck here?"

"Until the ice thaws; then you'll fall into the lake and have to swim home."

Azkadellia got up, wobbling dangerously on her skates, before taking my hand to steady herself.

"Fine, let's skate," she said.

She did better that time, and as we skated, I slowly let go, until she was skating on her own.

"Look, Mister Ambrose, I'm doing it!" she cheered.

"Excellent!"

"Ambrose!"

I glided around on my skates to face the King, "Hello sir!"

"Come to join us, daddy?"

"Why darling, look at you!"

"I want to do this every day!"

"Well, I think Mister Ambrose will be far too busy to skate with you every day."

"Is something the matter, sir?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not a thing," he said brightly, "come, let's go inside and we can talk there."

Azkadellia protested, gliding around in circles. I apologised to her, removed my skates, and trudged behind the King back up to the castle.

"My wife is...not well..."

"Oh dear, she not-"

"-Oh no, nothing like that! Little DG took a lot out of her. I finally convinced her to spend the week in bed."

"She so dedicated," I said admiringly.

"Yes, she is, and it's taking its toll. You and I are in for a long week."

I nodded, "I'll do anything you ask of me, sir."

"Excellent, now, there's a conference with the southern nobles tomorrow night and I've been reading up on the issues, but I'll certainly need  
you there."

"Of course, sir."

"I'll have a servant send down the information to you for study. The famines are becoming more and more persistent. It's been a rather unlucky few years."

I nodded; it was true, of course. Famine was becoming wide spread throughout the Outer Zone.

"I'll get straight to work," I promised, turning on my heel to head for the lab.

"Oh, and Ambrose?"

"Yes, sir?"

"DG has been transfixed with that hologram you made her. I daresay you've made a new friend."

"I certainly hope so," I laughed nervously.

The King smirked, "Get to work, Ambrose."

I nodded again and headed for the lab. Sure enough, a servant had already been there and there was a rather large package of paper on my desk. I sat down and ruffled through it, reading the information. I realize most people would find that pretty boring, but I found it fascinating.

"Apparently the weather been so uncooperative that no food can be grown...but not a great deal of food comes from there anyways, that's mostly imported," I'd risen at that point and was scribbling on my chalk board, "but the east has had completely different effects. Flooding; the plants die from too much water...and they are a chief exporter, especially for Central City...they need more sun..."

Soon, I had a written outline of every problem, but no solution to speak of. After all, it was the weather we were speaking of, and this was hardly something humans had control of. Or could they?

"But surely that would take years to even plan, let alone build," I sighed, whipping a bit of chalk off my nose, "and I have no idea how one would go about doing it...but that's never stopped me before."

* * *

The conference was a...humiliating moment, to say the least. When asked my opinion, I stood and proudly declared:

"With proper time, I can build a machine that will bring more sun to the east and allow for more farming!"

Well, I thought I was extremely impressive at this point, and I took the sudden silence and confirmation. That is, until everyone but the King began to laugh. That kind of put a damper on things.

"Ludicrous!"

"Man cannot control the weather!"

"This is the great advisor? What an idea!"

I sat down bashfully, thoroughly embarrassed at the whole ordeal. How could I have been so foolish to assume that people would take me seriously? A machine that controls the weather is like something out of a story book!

"Ambrose..." the King looked thoughtful, "can you...do this?"

"It would take years and years, but I fully believe it can be done," I half-lied. Hysterical laughter kind of shakes your confidence.

"Yes, well," one of the members said, "even if such a thing were to work, we don't have years, we have months."

I sighed, "Fine. For an immediate solution, we must look for some sort of alternative. The east is the main farming location, and the west is mostly sea life. The extreme north...nothing can be done in the north, or the south for that matter, as both are either too dry or too cold. The only thing I can think of is to relocate the farm land...but there's a problem with that."

"Which is?"

"The greatest expanse of nearly uninhabited land is the great forest surrounding Central City. As you all know, it's fairly huge. It is also home to a great many creatures."

"Are you proposing we cut down the trees in the forest to make farm land?"

"No. I'm not proposing anything."

"Except his mysterious weather machine," someone snorted and I blushed furiously.

"I'm merely saying that this is one of many options. At this point, there is no painless option to speak of!"

"And of course, the creatures of the forest will welcome us with open arms," someone else snorted.

"What do they live off of?" the King asked, looking through his papers, "the people of the forest?"

"They hunt your highness."

"Why were these people not in the information packages we were sent?"

"We didn't think it was important," the man said sheepishly.

"I'd say it is! They are people as well, and if intruding on their territory becomes a problem, we need to know about it."

"Apologies, your highness."

Sadly, my little speech about my machine resulted in my being mostly ignored for the rest of the meeting. When everything wrapped up, I was about to trudge down to my lab to sigh, mope, and possibly brood, when the King pulled me aside.

"Ambrose, are you serious about this machine of yours?"

"It can be done, I believe."

"Right..." he looked thoughtful, "listen, I think you should go ahead with it."

"Are you-are you sure?"

"You're the only one who claims to have a foolproof solution. I'm going to go to the forest tomorrow to converse with those who dwell there. I'm sure we can reach some sort of agreement, but to ensure that this does not become a long term issue..."

"You want me to start building the machine?"

"When you have free time from your other work, yes."

"This could take years, sir."

"I understand. Take as long as you need."


	5. Chapter 5

Five

"Son of a-ow!"

I'd somehow managed to injure my foot while working in the lab, resulted in some hoping up and down on one foot...which then resulted in me colliding with my desk.

"This is not my day," I sighed, straightening myself and limping back to my chalk board.

"You alright, Mister Ambrose?"

"Princess!" I jumped, which is not the best thing to do when you have an injured foot. I winced, and Az giggled, "it's not very nice to laugh at someone's pain."

She frowned, "Sorry."

"Yes, well, don't do it again," I huffed.

Azkadellia just rolled her eyes and went to sit in the chair, "What are you doing?"

"Inventing something."

"Oooh, what?"

"A machine."

"Well, that's helpful."

"You're awfully cruel today, Azka-D," I commented casually, jotting an equation down on the board.

"It's all because of her," she sneered.

"I take it you mean DG?"

"She stole my parents!"

And then the eldest princess began to cry.

"Oh, Az, no..." I sighed and picked her up to take her into my sitting room. I put her in my squishiest armchair and dried her tears with my handkerchief, "no, they've not been taken from you, how can you say such a thing?"

"Mommy got angry with me, Ambrose," she sniffled, "told me if I was going to be loud and disturb the baby I had to leave! It's always about the baby! Mom never used to care if I was being loud."

"I know, but I promise, they haven't stopped loving you. They love you and DG equally."

"Of course you'd say that," Azkadellia sneered, a rather unattractive expression for such a small face. I mean, it's not good when anyone sneers at you, but she was just a kid! It was unpleasant.

"What do you mean by that?" I said, rising to go see if I had some food lying around for her.

"You're going to marry her. Of course you'd side with them!"

"Azkadellia," I sighed, turning to face her, "I am not siding with them because I am going to marry DG. I'm siding with them because they're right. It's nothing to do with you, personally. I assure you, had DG been born first and you were the baby, she'd be down here complaining of the same thing."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm the Advisor; I need to know these things."

That response seemed to satisfy her. She stopped looking at me like she wanted me to explode under her fearsome gaze, so I took that as a pretty good sign.

"Well, I don't have cookies for you," I said finally, after a bit of rummaging around.

"People are saying you're crazy."

I have to admit, I laughed. I couldn't help it. It was just so...silly. It was a silly reply that only a child could give. Of course, laughing was not seen as a good reaction, and Az looked rather offended.

"Sorry," I smiled, "why am I crazy?"

"They say you want to build a machine to control the weather, but everyone knows that's impossible."

"Yes, well, everyone thought something like automobiles would be impossible back in the horse-and-buggy days, and yet here we are with cars."

"So you really are building a weather machine?"

"Yes and no," I said, "It's my goal to create a machine that extends the periods of sunlight to increase farming in the east."

Azkadellia looked thoughtful, "Well, if you want my opinion, I don't think it'll work."

"Is that so?" I smirked.

"I mean, the suns are so...big...and far away," she frowned, "controlling them would just seem...difficult."

"I didn't say building it would be easy."

"Right," she nodded, jumping out of the chair, "Well, I'd better go to my room. I'm supposed to be there right now, actually, so if I'm caught, I'll get in more trouble."

I rolled my eyes, "My rooms aren't a haven for evil little girls."

"They are now," she giggled, before running out the door before I could get another word in. Shaking my head, I returned to the lab, which currently looked like a tornado hit it.

"Bashing your foot causes more damage than I would have thought," I mused with a weary sigh.

* * *

The castle was silent at four in the morning, with only the guard outside being awake. I didn't really like talking to them; they were all so rough and tough and like my father. By the way, I lost touch with my parents shortly after the funeral. My father didn't reject me or anything it just sort of...happened. Slowly, but surely, as things like this tend to. That's not important. I had been working all night, alternating between my machine and my immediate work. There was an incident when a large crate that was supposed to contain various goods actually contained a person; a blonde boy, to be exact. He had amnesia due to...whatever had been done to him, and he was being sent most likely as some sort of servant or slave. He was now in an orphanage with his pictures plastered all over the lands in search of his parents or family. The issue of security in our postal systems suddenly became a hot topic, and I was expected to review ideas sent to me by the Head of the Guard and various high ranking Tin Men.

"What do Tin Men know anyways," I thought distastefully. I was walking around the castle, taking a break...or preparing for bed. I wasn't sure which yet. Young DG's crib had been moved from her parents' room and was placed in a fantastic room of her own, filled with all sort of...well...girly things, I guess. There certainly was an awful lot of pink ribbon.

"How impractical," I said to myself as I walked, "It won't last, after all. Azkadellia would cringe if she had a room like that."

As if on cue, I heard a wail. Though the room was all the way at the end of the hall, I was sure I'd woken her. Walking quickly, I went into DG's room and looked into her crib. Sure enough, the poor child was sobbing her pretty eyes out, but not over anything I'd done. She'd woken horribly tangled in her pink blanket and couldn't free herself.

"You poor thing," I sighed, detangling her and picking her up, "poor, poor little DG."

DG blinked at me then smiled and reached out for my hair again. I laughed and sat down in the rocking chair, leaning forward to let her play with it without too much pain or discomfort. It was actually quite silly, and I was content until she yanked particularly hard. Then I jumped slightly and DG frowned, looking as though she were about to cry again.

"No, no, ssssh," I rocked her slowly, "don't cry, DG, don't cry. When you cry it makes me sad, and you don't want me to be sad, do you? No...You just like my hair. I'm glad you like it; my father always found it silly, you see. He used to say it was bad enough I inherited my mother's horrible curls, but the fact that I didn't try very hard to keep them tame was downright awful. Well, I guess that doesn't matter now. 

Can I tell you a secret, DG? Of course I can, you can't speak. I consider you family. I know it's strange, but I do. Everyone here is family..."

And I spent the next two hours rambling, with DG in my arms. I don't remember putting DG back in her crib, or walking back to my room, but I did wake up in my own bed the next morning, extremely confused, with only the Queen's amused smirk at breakfast offering me the smallest clue as to what happened when I dozed off.

* * *

_I know some of you found the other chapters harder to read. Hopefully this is easier. I'll try to change the previous chapters when I have the time._


	6. Chapter 6

Six

The years passed. I know that sounds really cliché and I wish I had a better way to say it, but I don't. So, I'll take a leaf out of Azka-D's book and just say it. The years passed. The famine that seemed to be spreading hit its peak about a year after the night I saved DG from the horrible blanket of doom, and then it began to decline. That didn't make me give up working on my machine, however. It was a matter of pride now; I had an entire country save for the King and Queen themselves telling me it couldn't be done, so I had to prove myself.

And so the years passed on, and DG learned to walk and talk, all while I watched her, proud as any other member of her family. Azkadellia warmed up to her the moment DG waddled up to her one sunny day and handed her an apple, before falling flat on her behind, having not grown accustomed to walking. Azkadellia laughed, along with everyone else present, and began to play with her sister. DG also grew up with the knowledge that, along with being the Queen's advisor, I was also her future husband. It was one of the first things she was taught, actually. Still, we never actually talked about it, as close as we were. I'd expected her to say something, but she'd always simply hug me and ask me to tell her stories, or go on adventures with her. The pink ribbon in her room was taken down almost immediately after she could talk.

So, needless to say, when I had moved my work outside one summer (it was perfect weather; it would have been criminal to stay inside and I can work virtually anywhere), I wasn't extremely shocked that the sudden contact of an apple and my head was the result of a certain four year old peering down at me through the leaves.

"Ow!" I rubbed my head and looked up from my writing, "DG, what are you doing up there?"

"Getting apples," she said, "Az wants to make fruit salad."

"Where is your sister?"

DG bit her lip, "I can't tell you, Ambrose, it took a lot of convincing to make her go in the first place and she said she'd only do it if I promised I wouldn't say a word."

"Then, by all means, keep your secret," I rose from my seat, "I didn't think one so young could climb so high up!"

"I like it up here."

I shuddered, "I certainly don't."

DG nodded, perfectly aware of my fear of heights.

"Can you get down alright?" I asked.

"Catch me!"

"Oh no you don't!" I exclaimed, but it was too late. DG practically launched herself out of the tree. Luckily, I caught her and she giggled. I, however, was not amused.

"What was that? Didn't you hear me say not to jump out, and that's exactly what you did! What if I hadn't caught you, DG, had you even thought about that?"

DG frowned, as if what I'd said made no sense in her mind, "But I knew you'd catch me, Ambrose."

I was about to reply when I heard a shriek. DG and I both looked up to see Azkadellia running, her arms full of fruit (which were slowly falling out of her grip), pursued by the cook. They ran right by us without seeing us, and DG and I watched them speed passed silently.

"So...secret?" I asked, putting her down.

"Yup, secret."

I smiled and returned to my seat, leaning against the tree. DG sat next to me.

"What are you doing?"

"Work," I said simply, chewing on the end of my pen.

"What kind of work?"

"The working kind."

DG sighed at this and shifted closer to me until I was forced to put my arm around her. She put her head on my shoulder and read what I'd written.

"I don't get it," she wrinkled her nose up and me and I laughed.

"Well, of course you don't. That's highly advanced mathematics."

"Teach me."

"Princess, I can't do that right now. I'm working, remember?"

She pouted, "What are you really working on? Your machine?"

"No, no, I'm working on a completely different machine for the Queen."

"What machine does mommy want from you now?"

"DG," I rubbed my eyes, "shouldn't you go rescue Azkadellia before she gets made into princess stew."

"Why, all she did was steal some fruit?" DG said, and then clapped her hands to her mouth, "I said I wouldn't tell!"

"I think I worked it out on my own when I saw the cook chasing her," I smiled and ruffled her hair, "but your secret's safe with me."

"Good...Mum's taking us to Finaqua next week," she mumbled, closing her eyes.

"Really?"

Periodically, when the weather was nice and there was not much work to be done, the royal family would vacation in Finaqua. I'd only gone there a few times, for usually I was left to manage the castle while they were gone. It was a lovely place, however.

"You should come too."

"You know I can't do that."

DG pouted, "But the last time you went, I couldn't go!"

That was true, but the last time was for work. I was testing the water for specific minerals; hardly an expedition for a princess.

"Well, maybe I'll go another time."

"We've never been there at the same time," DG sighed, "I'd like to be there with you."

"Someday, I'm sure we'll go together."

DG looked at me and as those huge, blue eyes met mine, an unspoken agreement was formed between us: when we were married, I'd take her there, just the two of us.

"Azkadellia's never any fun there," she pouted, "she's always afraid something will come out of the woods and eat us."

"See? Princess stew is not just something the cooks enjoy."

"You're silly, Ambrose."

"I try," I said, turning back to my notes and scribbling something down. DG watched me write for a while, though she had no idea what any of it meant. Just then, Azkadellia came over, looking dirty and holding one peach.

"I fell down the hill and the cook caught me."

She then handed DG the peach and sat down across from us. DG and I both started laughing at her, though I was more subtle about it. DG, however, was howling.

"You look funny, Az!"

"Hey, this is all your fault in the first place!" Az frowned, "you put me up to it. I should've been the one in the tree!"

"Come on, you two, don't argue," I said, putting away my notes, accepting the fact that working with these two around was going to be impossible, "tell me what you plan to do at Finaqua."

"Pick apples!" DG giggled, throwing one at Az. Az dodged it and stuck her tongue out at DG.

"Hey!" DG got up and chased her sister, who bolted back to the castle. I watched them go, smiling slightly, and then returned to my calculations.

* * *

"Aaaaammmmbrooooooooossssse..."

I looked up from my desk, though I couldn't see anyone.

"DG?"

"Find me, Ambrose!"

"Right, that's on my list of things to do, right under 'finish determining what to do with Lord James Autumn'."

"Is he being a meanie again?"

"Yes," I told the disembodied voice, "he's harassing Viewers."

"I never did like him at parties. He tried to pick me up by my ears."

"I rescued you from him."

"Yes you did."

"Now, where are you," I got up and left my lab to look around the sitting room. She wasn't beneath any armchairs or behind the bookcases. I went into the bedroom and checked under my bed, night table, in the closet...

"Alright, now I'm worried DG," I said carefully, "Where are you?"

"You passed by me already!"

I paused and tilted my head sideways. He voice was...echoing.

"DG, are you in the fireplace?"

I scrambled back into the sitting area and stuck my head inside. DG giggled from the corner of the great fireplace and stepped out.

"You're dress is filthy now," I said distastefully.

"Yeah, but it was a great hiding spot!"

"You're just lucky I didn't decide that it was a bit too cold in here."

"You'd never set me on fire, Ambrose."

I smirked at that; she always had a certain amount of...well...certainty in my actions. No matter what, I'd always catch her if she jumped off a branch, and I'd instinctively know where she was before any harm could come to her.

"Come on then, you," I picked her up and flung her over my shoulder. She giggled and tugged at my hair as I led her to the bathroom and sat her on the counter, "Now where did I put the washcloth..."

I found it in the cabinet, wet it, and proceeded to wipe the ash off her face. She wrinkled her nose and I sighed.

"DG, stop making faces."

DG stuck out her tongue at me, then grinned. I shook my head and wiped her nose with the cloth.

"So you do have a nose!" I gasped, "Here I was thinking all this time it would just be infinite ash."

"Infinite?"

"Endless," I said, wiping off her cheeks.

"So...like...your brains."

"What?" I laughed.

"You're the smartest man in the whole universe! You're brains are infinite!"

"Don't be silly, my brains are finite."

"Finite means it has an end, right?" I nodded and she continued, "Then you're wrong."

"But...if I'm wrong, them my knowledge must be finite."

"Then you're wrong about that too."

"What you're saying makes no sense," I sighed, scrubbing her forehead.

"I think it does."

"Well, then it must be true, mustn't it?"

DG nodded, "I never lie."

"Never ever?"

"Well, not to you. You can always tell."

I smirked at that and told her to look up, which she did. I scrubbed her neck until it was clean and then I took her hands.

"You are such a silly girl," I said, rubbing her hands with the washcloth, "Silly, silly girl."

"I'm not, I just don't like...sitting."

"Sitting."

"Just sitting and doing nothing. It's boring. I don't know how you do it, Ambrose."

"I never sit and do nothing. I'm always thinking about something."

"That's because your brains are infinite."

I decided not to argue with her; rather, I lifted her off the counter and said, "Well, I think it will take a miracle to save that dress, but you look more presentable now. Why don't you go properly wash up, and I'll see you at dinner."

She frowned and stomped her foot, "Ambrose, there are chickens who are more fun than you are."

"Oh really? Would a chicken do...this?" I seized her and began to tickle her. She giggled and struggled, pulling herself from my grip and running out of the bathroom to crouch behind an armchair.

"Now, where did DG go?" I called mockingly, "surely she wouldn't be so silly as to hide somewhere in the sitting room, because that was the last place she hid in and I found her there. No, she's far too smart for that. I should probably check under my bed..."

I made as if to go into the bedroom, then turned on my heel and snuck over to the armchair. I peered over the top to see DG crouching with her hands over her head, as if waiting for an explosion. I smiled, leaned over, and tapped her. She looked up, blue eyes wide with wonder.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"Dearest, I think every chicken in the Outer Zone could find you there."

DG sighed and stood up, then hastily climbed over the top of the chair and fell into my lap.

"I knew you find me," she said, leaning against my chest. I smiled down at her, ruffling her hair slightly.

"Oh?"

"It's the same thing as you always catching me, or knowing that you shouldn't light a fire when I'm in the fireplace," she said brightly, "you're always the one to find me and help me out when I'm in a weird place."

"Of course, I wouldn't have to do that if you stopped putting yourself in weird places."

"Now, Ambrose," she said, sitting up straight and looking very serious, "what are the odds of that happening?"

It took me a while to figure out what had suddenly come over DG, but then I realized she was trying to imitate me.

"Would that make me you?" I raised an eyebrow, "because if so, I should probably go and throw myself off of the tallest tree."

"I'd catch you," she said confidently, hugging me. I hugged her back and there was a moment of silence as we sat there together.

"DG?" I asked.

"Hmmm...?" she said, her eyes half-shut.

"You're not to throw yourself off the tallest tree, are we clear on that?"


	7. Chapter 7

The royal family was at Fianqua, leaving myself in charge of business for the week

The royal family was at Fianqua, leaving myself in charge of business for the week. Of course, they'd chosen this week because there was virtually no business to attend to, so I really wasn't any busier than usual. I'd decided to write the orphanage of the mysterious boy in the box to check up on him. There was still no word on his family, and he still had no memory of how he'd gotten in the box in the first place.

"He's an angry child, Mister Ambrose," the head of the orphanage said sadly, "he is angry with what's been done to him."

"Can't say I blame him," I shrugged, "If someone conked me on the head and shipped me all around the Outer Zone, I'd be a pretty angry person myself."

"Mister Ambrose, your concern is…" the woman tilted her head to the side, "you have no magical abilities, do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Then how did you conjure this speech spell?"

I grinned and patted my machine lightly. It looked like a projector, only the light coming from it projected a speech spell.

"It's my latest invention," I said proudly, "but it only works for about 3 times. 4 if you have impossibly short conversations…and 5 if you're doing prank calls."

"Do a lot of prank calls in your time?"

I bowed my head and recalled the numerous times DG came into the lab simply to bug Azkadellia by using my original machine. Making it wasn't difficult, so I wasn't too angry with her.

"Can't say that I do," I smiled, "I just need to figure out how to replenish the magic within it. As it is, it gives off magic, but the magic can't replace itself like it and with humans."

"Wish I had an answer for you there, but I'm about as magical as the chair I'm sitting on."

I laughed, "Well, chairs do have a wealth of potential locked within them. Thanks for your time."

I turned off the machine and sighed, rubbing my face. It really was a good idea; the problem is that every time it ran out, I had to build a new one and get someone to infuse it with magic (usually Azka-D; she had a natural talent for the magical arts). The magic burnt out the mechanisms within the machine. I needed a way to prevent the magic ffrom harming the technology while allowing it to be reusable.

"What if people somehow put speech spells into cartridges, or vials, that could be put into the machine?" I pondered out loud, leaping up to write that idea down, "then, rather than have the magic interfere with the gears, they'd be in a contained space where contact was minimal…it would still burn out after a while though…"

I scribbled my thoughts down, and then flipped to another section of my notebook, where I'd written 'Machine' in big letters. I hadn't given it a name yet, though I had progressed slightly in my work. I knew, for example, that for the machine to have any sort of significant impact, it would have to be huge. It baffled me as to where I would put it, but only for a moment. It certainly didn't discourage me.

"Mister Ambrose?" a voice called.

"Just a moment," I got up from my lab and opened my door. Looking down at me was an extremely tall man with a grey coat.

"What can I do for you?" I asked politely, noting that my visitor was a Tin Man.

"I understand you are managing affairs here until her majesty returns?"

"I am," I nodded, "is something the matter?"

"I believe so, please come with me."

I was lead from my rooms up towards the Entrance Hall, where another Tin Man was detaining…

"Tutor?" I asked, confused. Tutor taught the two princesses magic, and he didn't seem like the kind of person who would get into trouble, "What's going on here?"

"We found him in Central City, using his shape shifting abilities to break into a magical supply shop. He almost got away with one hundred platinums worth of good."

"Did he now?" I crossed my arms and looked at him, "is this true, Tutor?"

"Don't act so condescending towards me, I'm 25 annuals older."

"But apparently not wiser," the Tin Man said, "we were going to lock him up, but he said he worked for the royal family."

"He does," I nodded, "how long is his sentence?"

"Ten to twenty annuals," he replied, and I gasped.

"I'm not going to prison," Tutor said firmly, "I'm the best magic teacher there is!"

"And a thief to boot," the Tin Man detaining him added with a smirk.

"So, what should I do?" I asked. The Tin Man sighed and took off his hat.

"We're looking in to alternative punishments for him, since he is apparently important to the royal family."

"And have you…arrived at a conclusion."

"We were thinking of binding his shape shifting abilities to one form, so that he can never misuse them."

"And for how long?"

The Tin Man shrugged, "Not sure yet. He'll have to face the judge. A long time, is my guess; he was stealing some pretty serious stuff."

I sighed and rubbed my face, before looking at Tutor once more, "Tutor, you really made a mess of things. We can't throw you away in jail, because you're the best in the business, but you can't go around taking stuff."

Tutor rolled his eyes, "Fine. Bind me."

"You sure?" the Tin Man asked. Shape shifters tended not to react well to binding, but he just sighed and nodded.

"Very well," the Tin Man detaining him said, "we'll have him back in a few hours time, once it's been determined how long his sentence is. It's a fast procedure."

I stayed up all night in the entrance hall until Tutor came back three hours later. I rose from my seat on the staircase and glared.

"That was an embarrassing display," I said, "you work for the King and Queen; you can't afford to act this way."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped, "you have no idea what it's like."

"What what is like?"

"I may be the best teacher in the business, but I can be so much more than that if I was given the chance."

The phrase _those that can't do, teach_ sprung through my mind sarcastically, but I decided it was best not to say anything like that.

"So, what, you thought committing a _crime_ would make you a better magician? That makes sense."

OK, still with the sarcasm. What can I say? I was really angry with him!

"Those supplies could have increased my power!"

"And now you're stuck with one form!" I replied with equal frustration, "and you can bet the latest news will read 'princesses educated by thief,' or something like that!"

"I just got so…frustrated," Tutor's anger faded, and I sighed sympathetically.

"How long is your sentence?"

"10 years," he replied, "I go back and they reverse the process."

"It's less than the time you'd have been in prison."

Tutor sighed, "I didn't think it would wind up this way."

I nodded sadly. I knew Tutor wasn't a bad person; he just…lost his way briefly.

"I think I'll just go to sleep-are you going to be alright…taking care of all of this?"

I nodded, unsure as to what business this incident would cause. Tutor transformed into the only form he had left-a dog-and scurried off to his rooms, leaving me to worry about what would happen when the news got out.

* * *

"Ambrose!"

I sat up in bed, face to face with a speech spell; the Queen's speech spell, specifically.

"Majesty!" I gasped, highly embarrassed to be in my pyjamas in the presence of royalty.

"I have heard the word on Tutor," she said sadly, "is it true?"

"Indeed it is, sadly."

"And he is restricted to only his canine form?"

I nodded, "for the next ten annuals."

The Queen shook her head, "No doubt the press will want a story once the word gets out…and would always does seem to get out, no matter what we do to stop it."

"I've instructed all the residents and servants of the castle to keep quiet about it, and the Tin Men assured me they'd tell no one who didn't need to know."

"Oh, there is always someone who will tell," the Queen sighed.

"Mommy, who are you talking to?" a little voice asked.

"DG, what are you doing out of bed?" the Queen looked at someone out of my view.

"Are you talking to Ambrose?"

"Yes, my angel, I am."

"I want to talk, I want to talk!"

The Queen shifted her gaze back to me, lavender eyes twinkling, "Would you like to talk to DG?"

"By all means," I smiled.

"One moment."

DG was too short to reach the speech spell her mother had conjured, so she dragged a stool over and sat on top of it, "Ambrose!"

"Hello there you," I smirked, "what's one as young as you doing up so early?"

"I heard mommy talking and I came to investigate."

"Ever the detective. How is your vacation going?"

"Great. I found this!" DG held up a shell, "isn't it pretty? Daddy said he'd polish it and make it into a necklace for me."

"That's lovely."

"We're coming home early," DG said, smiled faltering slightly, "Mum told us last night over dinner. Something's happened, hasn't it?"

I sighed, "Yes, DG, something had happened, but it's not something that a little girl should worry about."

"I'm not little!"

"You're four!"

"Four's not little."

"It's littler than…say…21."

DG rolled her eyes, "You're not going to tell me until I'm 21. That's not fair! It's not even worth waiting for!"

"Exactly," I winked, and she scowled.

"When I'm big, I'm going to keep secrets from you!"

"But I'll be bigger, so I can keep even more secrets from you."

"You're just a meanie! And…and you're still a chicken!"

"Well, I never!" I pretended to look offended.

"And your PJs are funny!"

"DG, they're the exact same colour as yours," I sighed, noting the child's red nightgown.

"Oh," DG looked down, "Well, I look better in red!"

"I don't know, doll…"

"What did you just call me?"

"Doll."

"Don't call me that!"

"Why, you call me a chicken?"

"That's different."

"DG, my angel," the Queen's voice called, "let Ambrose rest. He had work tomorrow, and young girls should not be awake this early in the morning."

DG frowned and stuck her tongue out at me, "Chicken!"

* * *

The Queen and King had a long talk with Tutor. There was a rumour running around the castle that he's be fired, though no one knew for sure. Of course, this called for most of the staff, myself, the two princesses, and various castle inhabitants to stay outside the meeting room. This was all very unethical of course…which is why we all jumped and shrunk back into the hallway every time we thought they were about to open the door.

"What do you think is going on in there?" Dg was peeking around the corner to stare at the door.

Azkadellia was pressed up flat against the wall, and I was leaning more casually against the wall between the two girls. Everyone else was either pressed against the opposite wall or pretending to work. One maid had swept the floor at least two dozen times already.

"It's probably nothing," Az sighed, "he's just a teacher."

"He's _our_ teacher," DG said, eyes wide, "how will I learn magic if he's not here?"

DG was really struggling with her magic. It seemed without her sister's help, she was unable to do any better than mere party tricks.

"They can find you new teachers," I said quietly, "besides, it's not as though this is the worst things to happen. I doubt he'll be fired."

Suddenly, the door flew open. DG lurched behind the corner and we all pressed ourselves against the wall and held our breaths. There was a moment's silence.

"Alright, you can all come out, he hasn't been fired."

The Queen looked amused as we sheepishly revealed ourselves.

"How did you know we were there?" DG asked.

"My angel, I've lived here all my life," the Queen smirked, "nothing in this place is secret."

That earned a few laugh on behalf of the older servants.

"Now come, all of you, you must have something better to do," the Queen clapped her hands together and all but the three of us scurried off. Az and DG went to go hug their mother, and I simply crossed my arms and leaned against the wall to watch the scene unfold.

"Ambrose," the Queen said, arms around the two girls, "thank you for handling this while I was away."

"It was no problem at all, your majesty," I smiled.

"Well, my darlings," the Queen looked down at her two daughters, "why don't you go see Tutor?"

"We're having lessons now?" DG whined.

"Oh yes, you are very out of practice."

And with that, DG and Azkadellia both trudged into the meeting room unhappily.


	8. Chapter 8

A few months later, I was completely engrossed in my work. I was building my latest invention, and my back was aching as I hunched over the contraption with a screwdriver. I had resolved that I was not going to give up until I had completed it, so when I heard a knock on my door, I became very angry. I stormed over to the door, wretched it open, and glared…into thin air. Blinking, I looked down to see a pair of wide, blue eyes staring up at me.

"Ambrose," she said tearfully.

"DG, what's the matter?" my anger disappeared.

"I'm hopeless!"

I sighed and picked her up. I was covered in grease, but that didn't seem important at the moment.

"What makes you think that, DG?"

"Tutor yelled at me," she said as I sat the two of us back in the lab. I sat her on the edge of the table so that we were more or less eye to eye.

"Why did Tutor yell at you?"

"Because Azkadellia is better at magic than me."

I sighed, "Don't be silly."

"It's true! I can't do anything without her helping me. I can barely make things spin! That's supposed to be a basic thing!"

"Everyone has their own talents, DG."

"I'm not good at anything."

"You're an amazingly talented artist."

DG scowled, "Daddy and Az can both draw."

I smiled, "Don't tell Az I said this, but you are much better at art than she is."

"You…you think so?"

I went to the wall and pointed to the two drawings, one from each princess.

"Look for yourself," I gently took the picture she drew of the two of us off the wall, "I think it's beautiful."

DG looked miserable, "It could be better."

"That's what practice is for. Look, do you think my inventions turn out perfect the first, second, or even the third time?" I put down the drawing and pointed to what I'd been working on, "you see that? This is the second time I've attempted to make this device and I have no idea whether it will work or not."

"What's it supposed to do?"

"It's an M.L.S.D."

"A mullllllseduh?" DG said, attempting to form a word out of the letters.

"A Miniature Life Sustenance Device; it's like a mini-world."

"That people can live in?"

"Mini people, perhaps."

"What's the point of it? There are no mini people."

"I want to create a world that's safe to test certain inventions without messing up this world."

"You mean your sun machine?"

I nodded, "Yes. I don't want to experiment on our suns, so I'm going o create a miniature world that I can test it on."

"But you're not mini!"

"I'll have the Queen or Tutor shrink me down so I can test it out."

DG shook her head, "Don't shrink! What if someone steps on you?"

I laughed, but then DG scowled up at me and I knew she was serious, "DG, I'll have someone standing guard as I do this I'm not just going to reduce my size and not give any notice."

"I don't think it's a good idea. Too many bad things can happen if you're stuck that small."

"Well, I'll tell you what-when I eventually get around to this, you can be my personal guard."

"I can?"

I tapped her nose with one oily finger, leaving a black mark on her nose. She sneezed once and hugged me, grabbing at my hair.

"Ow!" I laughed, hugging her back.

"Promise you won't tell Az," she said, voice muffled by my shoulder, "she thinks I'm silly when I get jealous of her."

"Can I tell you something?" I said, gently tugging her hands away from my hair.

DG nodded seriously, "Sure."

"My father was-is-I don't know…_is_ a general in the army," I said, "and he always wanted me to be as strong as he was."

DG nodded, eyebrows knitted together as if she were focused on every word I said.

"But I couldn't, no matter how hard I tried; I couldn't…be what he wanted. I disappointed him. So I tried harder. And harder. Eventually I picked up some skills…but they weren't good enough. I'm a man of science and ideas. A thinker. I have other skills, and never really cared for that," I sighed, "and it took me…a long time to learn that it was my father who was wrong…not me."

"You don't talk about your family, ever."

"That's because I don't talk to them anymore," I frowned.

"Why, did you stop loving them?"

"No! No, gods, no, it's just…that's the way things work with some people. You love them…but at a distance, because it's the only way you know how. It's the only way you can love them, I guess," I shrugged and smiled a little, "besides-I consider this place more of a home than my actual home ever was."

DG smiled, "That's good. We're all one big family anyways-that's what mum always says."

"Well your mother is a very smart woman," I said.

"But now you're sad that you spoke about your family."

"No…actually, I'm not," I smiled, "If I was going to tell anyone, it had to be you."

"I'm glad I came to talk about magic and stuff."

"And this will be our little secret, right?"

DG nodded, "Yup."

"Good. Now, it would appear that I got oil all over your face."

"You're gonna wash my face again?" DG whined, "I'm going to take a bath tonight."

"And in the meantime walk around all dirty? I thin k not!"

DG grumbled, jumped down from the table, and trudged to the bathroom mumbling to herself about how unfair I was.

* * *

I'd finished the machine, having missed dinner, but was very well pleased with myself. After all, I'd managed to create a little miniature land, with water, proper air and…everything. It was perfectly habitable. Dusting my hands off, I sat back and stared at my machine.

"Now all I need is the damn sun machine to work," I grumbled, wiping the oil off m hands, "or to even be built. Sometimes I wish things could just build themselves."

"But that would take all the fun out of everything you do."

"Azka-D," I rose from my seat, "I don't recall leaving my door unlocked."

"Magic," she wiggled her eyebrows and then grinned.

"So Tutor has you unlocking doors for him now?" I said, and then immediately regretted saying it. It wasn't a very nice thing to say, given the circumstances.

"Actually…I taught myself how to do it."

"Lock picking?" I snorted, "What's next, forging money?"

"I didn't learn it to be bad…it's just convenient, that's all. Besides, I came here to talk about DG, not my future life of crime."

I let out another snort of laughter, "Alright, what's happening with DG?"

"Do you care about her, Mister Ambrose?"

"Of course I do!"

"You're going to marry her someday."

"I'd almost forgotten," I said sarcastically, and then grinned down at her, "you look like you want to kill me, Azka-D. What's the problem?"

"I just don't want you hurting her."

"Why…why would I hurt her? Did she say anything?"

"No, but she comes to you when she needs help."

"That's what friends are for."

Azkadellia sat on one of the stools and sighed, "She doesn't talk about how she has to marry you, but I can tell she thinks about it sometimes."

"Is that so?" this was making me very uncomfortable.

"And I can tell you do as well."

"Hmmm." Well, how could I not think about it?

"It's this look you both get…" Az tilted her head to the side, "especially when you look at each other. You aren't in love yet, but it's like you know you'll be when the time comes, so in the meantime, you're best friends."

I wasn't enjoying being analyzed, especially not by one so young. It's true what she was saying, of course, though DG and I never talked about it.

"You know, Cal never looks at me that way," Az frowned.

"Well, forgive me if I'm mistaken, but you and Cal are not…as close as DG and I are."

"You're right," she nodded.

"Does that bother you?" I asked, while inwardly wondering how I managed to play therapist to two princesses on the same day.

"Not really. Marriage seems really far off, you know? Of course you know, what am I saying!" she laughed and threw her hands up, "I just came to make sure you were taking care of my sister. I know she was here today."

"Do you?"

"She's my best friend Ambrose," Azkadellia became very serious, "and my baby sister, which is why I'm here to say that if you hurt her in any way, you'll have to deal with me."

"Azkadellia," I said, in the exact same serious tone, "if I have done anything to make you think otherwise, then I regret it. I would sooner harm myself than hurt DG."

"Good," she nodded, and then turned to my machine, "is this why you've been down here all day?"

"Yeah, I just finished it now."

"What is it?" Az opened the spherical top and looked inside, "Whoa!"

"It's an M.L.S.D."

"A Mullseduh?"

I shook my head and smirked. Some things must run in the family.

* * *

I'm going to skip over the est of the year for the soul reason that nothing happened. I'd like to say that something happened, but really…nothing happened. Nothing at all. Tutor's reputation was no longer in complete shambles, though he was still slightly bitter about being reduced to only a dog form. Azkladellia was ever the protective older sibling and improved in magic by leaps and bounds. DG was ploughing along with her magical studies as well, and had begun to practice her art skills more diligently than ever before. The walls of my lab were soon covered in sketches of myself and DG together, of the Queen and King, Azkadellia, and all sorts of landscapes. My personal favourite was the one of her in a tree, while I sat below it, with an apple falling from the branch she was perched on, just about to hit me. The oblivious look on my face cracked me up, and DG's look of concern always made me smile. Winter came, faded into spring, and soon summer was upon us once again.

That's when the trouble startedl the trouble that would change everything, forever.


	9. Chapter 9

The royal family had gone once again to Finaqua. I was left alone to manage the castle. Everything seemed normal. Everything _was_ normal. Until, one night, the castle doors crashed open and the Queen and King bolted in, DG held tightly in the Queen's arms. I was summoned immediately and DG dislodged herself from her mother and ran to wrap her arms around me.

"DG?" I picked her up and she started crying. Looking past her hair, I asked, "Majesties-what is happening?"

"Azkadellia," the King said, sounding mournful, "something's wrong with Azkadellia."

"She's not…she hasn't been harmed?"

"She's alive-" a voice said clearly from the doorway, "-and well. I don't see what the fuss is about."

Immediately, I knew something had changed in Azkadellia. She looked the same, but her gaze was dark, evil, and I found that meeting her gaze for too long gave me a horrible chill. I clung to DG a little tighter, hiding her face from her horrible sister. My reaction must have amused her, because she smirked and turned to her parents.

"Mother. Father. I'm going to sleep now. I hope I haven't worried you too much."

And with that, she walked off to her room without so much as a good night.

"What…what happened to her?" I asked.

"We'll explain everything," the Queen said, "Darling, can you go wake Tutor? He'll need to be a part of this as well."

The King went to go to Tutor's rooms, and soon we were gathered around a table, DG still clutching at me as though letting go would result in her very life ending.

"Azkadellia has been overpowered by something dark and ancient," the Queen said seriously, "As of yet, I do not know how deeply the darkness is rooted within her. She has not harmed anything, which is the only consolation I can offer."

"DG told us they were off in the woods and they came across a cave where the ancients trapped a witch," the King said seriously, "and they were holding hands, using magic to ward the thing off, but Az fell as they were backing away and DG let go. The witch overtook her."

"So Azkadellia's been possessed?" I asked.

"I believe so," the Queen said, "but my daughter is still alive in there. I can feel it."

"Which is the only reason she isn't locked away," the King added.

"I don't understand," I said, "if she's possessed, why _not_ lock her up?"

"People react to possession in different ways," Tutor explained to me, "some don't become evil at all, but they become obsessed with whatever possessed them. Some lose their magical abilities. Some even die."

"Azkadellia has only shown a severe lack of emotion," the Queen said, "we're going to observe her, but until we know exactly what the witch is doing to her, we cannot proceed any further."

"Her eyes," I said, "when I looked into them…I got chills, as though I were looking at something horrible."

"That's the witch looking at you," said Tutor gravely.

DG let out a small sob and I held her tightly.

"Ambrose," the Queen sighed, "word of this cannot get out just yet. Not until we're certain of what has happened to my Azkadellia."

"I understand," I nodded.

"Tutor, I need for you to work on some sort of magical containment spell. If the worst possible thing occurs…if the witch has indeed taken control over my daughter's body…she must be contained until we can force her out."

"Of course, your majesty."

There was an awkward silence, and then the King sighed.

"Come, DG, time for bed."

"I wanna stay with Ambrose."

"My angel, it's better for you to rest," the Queen sighed.

DG's eyes met mine and I could see the pleading look in them as if she's begun to beg aloud.

"I'll tuck her in," I said, gently lifting her up and taking my leave of the adults. We remained silent until we reached her room, and the moment I shut the door, she seized the collar of my coat and let out a wail.

"It's all my fault!" she cried.

"What, no! No!"

"Yes, it is! I let go. Az…Az she…Ambrose, I'm a terrible person!"

I sat her down in the rocking chair-one of the few things she kept from her terribly babyish room-and held her.

"I lied, Ambrose," she sobbed, "I didn't know what to do, so I lied!"

"Lied about what?" I asked but DG simply shook her head, tears streaming down her face, "listen, doll, I know you're scared-we all are-but this is important. If you know something that can help, you have to say something."

DG sniffed, "Az didn't fall. She told me not to let go and I just ran away…"

"What?"

"She wanted to go home, but I made her come into the cave with me…and the witch was there and Az grabbed my hand because we're more powerful when we're together…but the witch came closer so I let go and ran away," DG buried her face in my shirt and said, "Az is in trouble because of me!"

"No!" I objected so forcefully that DG looked scared. I gently wiped the tears off her cheeks, "do not blame yourself for the evil things other beings do. It's the witch's fault; not yours."

"No…she even told me before my adventures get her into trouble."

"DG, please don't blame yourself."

"Are you going to tell mom and dad?"

I sighed, "DG, they have the right to know what happened, don't you think?"

"Please don't tell them!"

"I won't say anything, but I highly recommend you come clean on your own."

DG nodded, "Can you be there…when I do?"

"Just tell me when you need me," I smiled, "and I'll come running. Now, we have to put you to bed."

"I can't sleep. I don't want to be alone."

I sighed, and then looked to the surface of her nearby vanity set to see the locket I made her. Gently, I reached out to take it and opened it for her to reveal the dancer.

"Here."

"The locket you made me," she took it in her hands and watched the dancer spin. It somehow made her more courageous, and she gave me a stiff nod, "alright, I'm ready."

I carefully tucked her in, and lay the locket, still opened, on her night table, so that it still glowed and spun for her in the dark.

"Goodnight, Ambrose," she said.

"Goodnight, doll," I said, kissing her on the forehead.


	10. Chapter 10

The following days were stressful on nearly everyone in the castle. Azkadellia was as cold and indifferent to everyone as she was on the first day. All she did was sit by herself and talk, thought to whom she was speaking to, no one knew. The Queen had attempted to sit and talk with her, but the reply would simply be 'mother, there is no need to worry about me,' or something to that effect.

DG did eventually tell her parents the truth about what happened, all the while holding my hand. Naturally, they did not blame her any more than I did. Life had seemingly sunk into an odd routine of watching Azkadellia and attempting to make life seem as normal as possible. It wasn't until DG attempted to sit with Az outside that the evil within our walls revealed itself.

I was just coming out from a work break when I saw DG approaching her older sister, and then say something. Sensing trouble, I quickly came over just as I heard DG say "Where did those marks come from?"

"Mind your own business!" Azkadellia hissed venomously.

"Az, I'm so sorry for all that I've done. Please let me help you!"

"I said go away!"

Azkadellia smacked DG hard across the face, sending her sprawling at my feet. I helped her up and put her behind me.

"Leave her alone! Don't you dare touch her ever again!" I ordered, "Do you hear me?"

"No," she smirked, rising from her seat and swaying with every step; definitely not the walk of the Azkadellia I knew, "no, I think I'll leave that to you, won't I?"

I didn't respond, knowing she was trying to make me angry.

"Don't you think it's sick that you adore this girl so much?" she said softly, "there must be something wrong with you, Ambrose."

"He is not!" DG protested, looking around me to glare at her sister.

"DG," she smiled sweetly, "shut up."

I once again stood firmly between the two girls and glared down at Azkadellia, daring her to come any closer. Azkadellia smirked, and waved one arm in the air. Instantly, DG and I were both sent flying in the air and we landed at Tutor's feet. Tutor screamed some magical word, and a large bubble suddenly enveloped Azkadellia, who pounded her fists against it in rage.

"You can't hold me here forever!"

"Are you alright?" Tutor helped us up, and DG wrapped her arms around my waist. I nodded and simply limped inside with DG just as the King and Queen were dashing out to see what had happened.

"She needs to be contained," I said weakly, "I'm so sorry."

"Get DG inside," the Queen said, before following her husband out.

I nodded and took her to my rooms. She sat down in an armchair and I bent down to look at her. She had a scrape on her knee, which I bandaged up wordlessly.

"All patched up," I said as brightly as I could manage.

"Your cheek," she reached out for a bruise that I could feel expanding over the left side of my face, but I recoiled.

"You're thinking about what she said," DG concluded darkly.

"How could I not?"

"You shouldn't listen to her. She's wrong."

I sighed and was about to get up and walk to the bathroom to get more bandages for the both of us, but she grabbed my hand and held it firmly.

"Don't leave me," she begged, "please."

And then the tears that she'd held back the entire time spilled out, "Ow…ow…ow…"

She clutched her arm, which was badly scrapped and bruised.

"Sssh…" I gently lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom to lie down, before going to get more bandages, "hold out your arm."

She obeyed shakily, and I wrapped her arm up as well as I possibly could. Then I took care of myself.

"She's gone, isn't she?" DG asked as I looked after my own arms.

"They'll brig her back," I replied.

I gently lay down next to her and she clung to me like she did the night they'd first returned to the castle.

"Ambrose?"

"Yes?"

"You're not going to leave me?"

"What?" I asked, taken aback.

"You said you could only love some people from far away, and after what Az said to you…"

"DG, no," I said, "no, don't compare this to my family. I would never leave you. I'll never leave you."

I hugged her and held her there, letting her play with my hair the way she always liked to do.

"I like your hair Ambrose," she said quietly, twisting her fingers around one of my curls.

"You always have," I smiled down at her, "the first time we met, you chewed on it."

DG quietly laughed, though I could tell she was miserable. Hell, we were both miserable! We were silent for a few moments, just lying there lost in our own thoughts.

"Ambrose?"

"Hmmm…?"

"When we're married, will you protect me as much as you are now?"

I stared into those blue eyes and realized how scared she must be. We'd never openly discussed out future marriage before, and for her to talk about it made it seem like the world was about to unravel around us.

"When we're married, I'll protect you. I don't think I'll ever stop wanting to protect you."

"I'll look after you too," she said, and I knew she meant it and was immensely grateful for it.

"We'll be happy together."

"I know," she smiled weakly up at me, "I've always known that."

From that moment on, DG practically lived in my room. Azkadellia was kept inside the containment bubble, and we could hear her endlessly screaming in fury at being captured. DG would come to my rooms and I would distract her. Magical lessons with Tutor had stopped, so as I worked on my own inventions, I would teach her what I could about science and machines.

"Moritanium?" I asked, looking from the notes I'd been scribbling.

"Big M, little T-can amplify magical energies," DG recited.

"Very good," I nodded.

DG got up out of her seat-the green armchair closest to the fire had become her seat-to go find a book to look at.

"_Advanced Chemistry Volume 3_?" She read.

"Deeg, that will be far too difficult for you," I said, not even bothering to look up. I knew exactly what shelf she was at, "everything on that shelf is advanced. Try one closer to the fire place."

DG eventually located a book called _The Basic Science of Farming_ and flopped back down in her seat to read it. Just then, a particularly loud scream erupted from Azkadellia's prison, no doubt somehow magically amplified so as not to give anyone a moment's peace. Our eyes met, and it occurred to me how weary DG looked.

"DG, why don't you go take a nap?"

She just shook her head, "It doesn't make things stop, Ambrose."

I sighed, put down my work, and got up to sit with her. She sat in my lap and curled up, playing with my hair as she always did.

"What's going to happen?" she asked quietly.

"Well," I said, "Azkadellia will be kept locked away until they find a way to drive the witch out of her, and in the meantime things will progress as normal as we can possibly make them. You may have to get a new magical teacher if Tutor is preoccupied with Az."

"And I'll grow up and we'll get married."

"We'll be happy together," I promised her and she nodded absentmindedly.

DG fell asleep in my lap, which didn't bother me, for I fell asleep almost immeditaly after. DG often slept in my rooms now as well, as far away from her sister as she could possibly get. It didn't bother me at all; it was always comforting to know that with something so horrible and evil in the castle with us, she was with me, away from it all.

* * *

"Do you want some tea?" I asked. DG, who had decided to lie down while I worked, sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Yes please," she nodded.

I rose to go heat some water, and when I returned, DG was once again lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"How is your machine going?" she asked.

"Um…fairly well actually. I have a few problems to work out, but the plans should be done by the end of the year…and then I can build my first attempt in the M.L.S.D."

"That's good. People will stop thinking you're a fool."

I smirked and sat on the edge of the bed, "Is that what they think of me?"

"That's why no one dances with you at parties, right?"

"Where did you hear about that?" I asked, wincing slightly.

"I hear servants gossiping. Some of them say you're crazy."

"And do you think I'm crazy?"

"You're as sane as I am."

"Deeg, that's not reassuring at all."

DG threw a pillow at me and giggled when it bounced off my head and hit the wall.

"DO I have to tickle you?" I asked mischievously.

"No!"

"I don't know…you threw a pillow at me…I don't think I appreciate that very much."

"But it made your hair go bouncy!"

"That's it!" I jumped forwards and tickled her.

"Ambrose," she giggled, "stop it!"

I did, and the kettle began to whistle, "I'll be back in a flash!"

I got up off the bed, stumbled over the pillow that was lying on the floor (much to DG's amusement) and went to take the kettle of the fire. This was normal for us now, and it was the routine that lasted for five months.


	11. Chapter 11

"I'm finished!" I declared, writing down the last equation. DG ran into the lab, smiling.

"You finished your sun machine?"

"Well, the blueprints. I have to test it out, but yes! They're done!"

"Yay!" DG threw her arms around my neck, "I knew you weren't completely crazy!"

"Nice to have your vote of confidence," I sighed, turning DG lightly so she was sitting in my lap.

"Looks neat," she said, staring at the blueprints.

"You don't understand a word of it."

"It still looks neat-what are you going to call it?"

"I was thinking of calling is a S.S.M-"

"-Stop naming things after letters!"

"It stands for something."

"It sounds silly. Call it something interesting."

"Like what?"

"Call it a sunseeder."

"A sun-what-er?"

"A sunseeder."

"Why on earth would I call it that?"

"Because it works on the suns and it helps crops grow," she said, as if it was obvious.

I shook my head, "It's much easier to catalogue inventions my way."

"Your way is boring."

"I'll tell you what; you can call it a sunseeder if you like, and I'll stick with my name. It's not like it makes that much of a difference, really."

DG nodded, "Fine."

"You know what this means though, don't you?"

"What?"

"Well DG, now that it's done, I have to go to Central City to obtain the necessary parts to make it."

"You-you're leaving?" DG got off my lap and stared at me, "Now?"

"Probably by the end of the week."

"No! Ambrose, you can't go!" DG hugged me, "I don't want you to leave."

I could understand where she was coming from; we'd been constant companions for the past five months, and she was terrified of being left alone with her sister still as loud and violent as she was on her first day of imprisonment.

"I can't trust just anyone to go, DG, this requires very precise materials that I don't have."

"But you don't actually need this machine! You're just building it because people told you it couldn't be done! I don't want you to leave! What if something bad happens?"

"What could possibly happen?"

* * *

I was waiting for the taxi in the castle entrance, wrapping my coat tightly around myself.

"Of course it rains the day I decide to leave," I grumbled.

"It's a sign you shouldn't go!" DG insisted, tugging at the hem of my coat.

"No, it's the weather."

"Please don't go, please!"

"DG," the Queen came into the Entrance Hall and pulled her away lightly, "Ambrose must do this. He'll be back in two weeks."

DG sighed, defeated, just as the taxi pulled up at the front gate.

"Your majesty," I nodded, and then turned to DG, "do I get a goodbye?"

DG looked like she was about to refuse, but then she ran forward, and I picked her up and hugged her.

"Please come back soon," she murmured, nuzzling at my hair.

"I'll be back before you know it," I said back, kissing her on the cheek and letting her down. A servant came to help me carry my bags out of the entranceway and out to the taxi. I gave everyone one last wave and went to the front gates.

"Wild weather we're having," the driver shouted over the rain.

"Yes, it's practically black out," I responded, rushing into the car, "I need to get to Central City."

"Won't be a fun ride in this weather, let me tell you!" the driver said, starting the car.

"Well, as long as I'm back within the next two weeks or so, I say all will be well."

The car started and mud sprayed onto my window from the wheels below.

"Lucky the window was shut," I said, after getting over the shock the splatting noise made.

"There'll be more where that came from, I promise."

The ride itself was indeed a long one and a very boring one as well. I wound up falling asleep about halfway, and was violently jerked awake by a sudden stop and the screeching of breaks.

"What where you're going, kid!" the driver called.

I couldn't see through the rain and muck on the window, but I heard a young man's voice reply

"Why don't you watch where you're driving, _sir_?"

"Kids these days," the driver grumbled, "you alright there, Mister Ambrose?"

"I think my heart just tried to escape my body via my mouth. Who was that?"

"Some boy who thought he could waltz across one of the busiest roads in the O.Z."

"On his own?"

"Don't ask me how people's minds work. They're all messed up."

I sighed and sat back in the seat. We were in the middle of nowhere-boys shouldn't just turn up in the middle of nowhere. _I suppose it doesn't matter_, I thought, attempting to settle myself back to sleep. Then I opened my eyes, knowing full well that the moment you thought something like that, the strangest thing was going to happen.

"What did the child look like?"

"Don't know…he had his hood up?"

Well, that was helpful. Sighing, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drift.

* * *

My hotel was expensive, as I was on work for the royal family. The room was much larger than I really needed it to be. I was one person with a king-sized bed, and I felt very, very small. I ordered dinner for myself and sat there, feeling rather alone.

"Tomorrow I'll go to the warehouse and order the parts…" I mused, "and maybe I'll go see a play. This is Central City after all, and I shouldn't just work for the time that I'm here."

I finished dinner and spent the night in bed, reading, periodically looking at all the empty space around me.

"One man," I concluded, "does not need a bed this big. It is extremely impractical."

So I turned off the lights so that I wouldn't have to see the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

* * *

"So, Mister Ambrose," the factory head was a very greasy looking man by the name of Len, "that's a pretty big order."

"It's a pretty big machine," I nodded, staring around the office that overlooked the factory. It was smoky, with the dust from the work below as well as the big cigar that was poking out of the corner of Len's mouth. Secretly, I wasted to gag.

"Well, everything seems to be in order," Len pushed the clipboard on his desk forward, "so if you'll just sign this, we'll be in business."

"Right…I also believe you've been told that I wish to supervise the building of the parts…everything must be very precise for this to work, you see?"

"Right," he nodded, "normally we don't let people do this, but since you're here for the Queen herself, I'm making allowances. Just don't tell every single person you see, alright?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," I nodded, desperate to get out of the room before I spontaneously died.

"Alright…everything's in order," Len looked over the papers.

"Thank you," I nodded and rose, "I shall return tomorrow to begin my observations.

I did just that, returning day after day to a musty factory to watch people and robots make parts. Every now and then I'd catch them slacking off or taking shortcuts (I once caught someone attempting to build while high on magical vapours. I promptly requested that he be fired), and-much to Len's annoyance-I intervened or threatened to take my business elsewhere. Getting shunned by an employee of the Queen's would not be a good business move, so they had to abide by my every whim. By the eight day, I was longing for palace life, where there was no smoke, no smog, no disobedient workers (more or less, anyways), and no scary Len glaring at me from his office.

"Your parts should be finished in three days," he told my in a gruff, hope-to-see-you-gone-as-soon-as-possible voice.

"Three days?"

"So I'd arrange transportation, as we don't ship goods this large."

"Transportation isn't and issue."

* * *

In three days, what I would describe as a fleet of cars and wagons assembled outside of the hotel, causing the manager much discomfort.

"I am not making any friends here in Central City," I said, turning to the fleet leader, who grinned.

"That's OK, Mister Ambrose, you don't make friends anywhere you go, save for the castle."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were making fun of me."

"Me? No! Never!" he opened the passenger door and I sat down.

"It's good to be back amongst people from the castle," I sighed, "there's no chance of my lungs being blackened by smog back home."

"Well, just sit back and enjoy the ride. We should get in around sunrise."

I leaned my head against the window, prepared to doze off. I didn't have a care in the world; the relief of knowing I was returning home was enough to sustain me at the moment.


	12. Chapter 12

Sunrise was indeed when we arrived, and I was told that my help was not needed in unloading the supplies. I was about to insist on supervising, when the King came over, looking very grave indeed.

"Hello, sir!" I said brightly.

"Ambrose," he nodded, "welcome back."

I blinked, "Is…something wrong, sir?"

"You didn't hear the news, Ambrose?"

"No, I haven't had any contact from the castle since I left in the first place."

The King's eyebrows furrowed and I distinctly heard him mutter, "Coward of a woman!" before he ordered me to follow him back inside. The King rarely full out ordered anyone around, so to say I was worried would be a huge understatement. My worries doubled-no, tripled-when I realized I was being led into the Queen and Kings bedroom. They quadrupled when I laid my eyes on my Queen.

"M-majesty?" I gasped in disbelief.

Her once dark hair had turned lighter and lanker, and she had bags under her eyes, whose colour seemed to have faded as much as her hair had. She looked as though she'd been crying, and when she rose to embrace me, I saw how weak she was.

"Ambrose, my loyal Ambrose," she sobbed into my shoulder.

"Your majesty what…what happened?" I asked, unsure as to how one ought to act when being sobbed on by the Queen herself.

"You didn't tell him!" the King barked harshly, "he, out of _everyone_, had the right to know, and you didn't tell him!"

"Oh, I couldn't! I couldn't! I didn't want to! Ambrose, you have to understand, I…"

"Your Majesty, please. You're scaring me," I whispered, gently prying her off of me, "I've never seen you like this. Did something happen with Az?"

That was my first thought, of course; that they were forced to kill the eldest princess because the evil within her was too strong to overcome. The Queen shook her head and looked at the ground.

"You'd best sit down, Ambrose."

"I'd…I'd rather stand. If it's so terrible, it won't make a difference. Is Azkadellia dead?"

"No," the Queen said, "it's DG."

My blood went cold the moment I heard those words, "What-what happened to her?"

"Ambrose…DG has passed away."

Time stood still at that point…or at least, that's what it felt like. The King made a growling noise and stormed out of the room, as if overcome by rage, while the Queen simply grabbed my hand and slipped something into it; the locket I'd given her when she was born.

"Wh-when?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Only last night," the Queen sniffled, "Azkadellia escaped her prison and came for DG. I arrived too late to stop her."

"I see."

"Ambrose, please understand, I was going to send a speech spell, but-"

"-that's alright, Majesty," my fist clenched around the locket, "I understand completely."

"The funeral is tomorrow, and-"

I didn't want to hear the rest. Without another word, I marched out of the room and into mine, where I sat, holding the locket to me. DG was dead. DG-_my_ DG, the one who I was supposed to marry and who'd spend countless days in these very walls because she sought my protection. She was dead. Gone. Forever. Furious, I threw the locket across the room and it hit the mirror and shattered it.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed, going to examine the mirror. My segmented reflection stared back at me, and I saw a hollow copy of what I used to be. My eyes were as dead looking as my insides felt, but I still had the same clothes, same features, same hair.

Same hair…

DG had always loved my hair, the unruliness of it. I twisted my finger around one curl and smirked, remembering how she used to play with it when I held her.

Then I cut it off.

"It doesn't matter anyways," I said frantically, snipping at my hair and throwing the curls away, "she's not hear to enjoy them, so why bother having them at all! My father always said they were useless, and everyone should always listen to their family! Family is important after all, and who would be so stupid as to ignore them when they need something from you! No! No point in having these curls, none at all! How useless! I cannot abide useless things, not in my work! I'm a scientist, after all! Work comes first!"

By then, my hair was much shorter, and I probably would have gotten rid of all my hair, had the Queen not barged in and wretched the scissors out of my hands.

"Ambrose, stop!" she commanded, dropping the scissors on the floor, "DG wouldn't have wanted this!"

"It doesn't matter what she wants, because she's _dead_! She's dead, and you didn't even tell me!"

"I was worried Ambrose! You love your work and I…I wanted to give you some happiness before you heard the news."

"Happiness? These past few days have been hell, Majesty! How could you do this to me?"

"I'm so sorry, Ambrose."

I turned back to my reflection, "Don't be. I'll be fine."

And I was fine. I didn't even cry at the funeral, nor did I even bat an eye some hours later when the Queen entered with the announcement that her husband had left her and that we'd no doubt be at war with Azkadellia. When I wasn't working with the Queen directly, I was in my lab, hard at work, ignoring the outside world. The idea of going outside to sit underneath apple trees didn't occur to me, nor did browsing the hallways late at night. Where I once felt completely free to do as I wished, I now locked myself in a self-imposed prison, working day and night. I immediately discarded anything of my former, more amusing days, and kept my hair short in a fashion that would have done my father proud.

"He's gone stuffy," I overheard one of the maids whisper as I turned a corner, "he was always dedicated to his job, but now it's just work, work, work…"

It was true. I can admit in retrospect that that's true. I'd lost my future wife, friend, and two very amusing playmates. For the second time, it felt like my family had faded away, and all I had left was the Queen and my duties to her; duties which I had to keep up at all costs. Besides, having fun would have brought back old memories…and I could not afford to live with such painfully happy memories.

* * *

"Ambrose?"

"Majesty," I rose from my desk and bowed.

"I have some…interesting news."

"Alright."

"You remember the young man who was found in the postal system?"

"Indeed, I do."

"He was seen in the company of Azkadellia."

I raised an eyebrow, "Azkadellia? Why would an orphan seek the princess?"

"How do we know it was he that sought her out?"

"Fair enough."

"She's assembling followers."

"So it would seem," I said, turning back to my work emotionlessly.

"I want you to alert the media as to what is occurring," the Queen continued, obviously uneasy at my lack of caring, "try not to cause too much of a panic, but I want people to be aware."

"Of course, your Majesty," I bowed and left as any obedient servant would.

I was interviewing-or interrogating, whatever sounds more appropriate-the head of the orphanage that day.

"And when did the boy escape?"

"About a week or so ago. We had Tin Men searching for him, but as he has no identity, it's difficult."

"No identity?" I repeated, wondering why, even to that day, I was referring to him as 'that boy found in the postal service'.

"He didn't have a name and wouldn't let us name him," the woman shrugged.

"And now such a boy has joined unspeakable evil."

"But the princess is only ten or eleven years old!"

"The thing inside her is far older," I said darkly, "and far more deadly than the princess. Now, is there any information you can give me on this boy?"

I was given a thin file; his records.

"This boy was a psychopath-quite literally," I said later on, when I was in the confines of my lab. The nameless postal boy had quite the history of picking on other children, burning things, and general chaos.

"No wonder he was shipped off. Who would want to keep him?"

"Ambrose?"

I turned. I knew I'd kept the door locked, so the fact that the Queen broke in either meant it was very serious, or very personal, and for the sake of my sanity, I was hoping for the first one. Of course, luck had not been on my side for the past few weeks…

"You didn't show up to dinner."

"I was working. I'll get something later."

"It's traditional for the Advisor to dine with everyone else."

"I remember. Sadly, this is rather important."

"Be that as it may…I'm worried about you, Ambrose."

I could hardly contain rolling my eyes, "Why, Majesty, I'm perfectly fine!"

"You don't go outside anymore, I never see you eat, I can tell by your eyes that you don't sleep…what are you doing to yourself, my friend?"

"I'm trying to work," I said evenly.

As if sensing that I could not be swayed, the Queen's face became even more sorrowful, and she left without so much as a goodbye.

* * *

As it turns out, Postal Boy was not the only lonely ) crazed soul to join Azkadellia, and soon we were beginning to see real evidence that a war was coming. It started off small, of course-a village would be raided, or people would be attacked by mobats while traveling-but it grew over the years, and by the time I was twenty five, there were actual battles, armies versus armies. I was always sitting by the Queen's side when she heard the news of how her armies had either fallen or succeeded. It was tied on both ends, for the though the witch was in control, she was still in the body of a young girl, and was limited by this fact, if only slightly.

My father died in battle, though I did not attend his funeral. It just didn't seem important.

"You've broken your mother's heart," the Queen said.

So I sent her flowers; yellow ones, to brighten her day. It's not like my being there would maker her situation any more enjoyable. I was still a stuffy workaholic with no interest in anything outside the castle walls. In fact, with the was decimating land, it gave me a reason to work on the sunseeder, to allow for improved farming. I decided to call it a sunseeder after all…for obvious reasons, and every time I spoke of it, the Queen's tired eyes brightened briefly, and I knew it was in hope that I was overcoming DG's death and returning to my old self. I routinely disappointed her, however, when I resumed conversation without the slightest indication that was going to renounce my stuffy ways any time soon.


	13. Chapter 13

I'd like to say we put up an impressive fight, but we did not. We tried, really, but in the end Azkadellia was far too powerful. Her armies were far greater than anyone had expected, even the Queen herself. All the troubles had distracted me from building the sunseeder inside my miniature world for testing; it was no longer a priority, for there was no need for crops if no one was alive to eat them. Almost everything was in Azkadellia's control; from the simple shop on the side of the road to the illegal drug trade. Even the castle was overcome, the entire area bound in ice. Where it was once susceptible to all seasons, it was now unbearably cold and winter forever.

It was within this horrific loss that we lost Tutor. The last anyone saw of him was his being forced into canine form by Azkadellia herself, and then taken away. We relocated to Finaqua, one of the few places left in the Outer Zone that she had yet to control and we fought the war from there. The pressure was felt from all directions, which is why-exactly eight years after the death of my beloved DG-I was in my new lab, scribbling away at my latest plan. It was not my best, for my best had been outwitted by the witch's magic, but it was all I had left in me. I missed my old lab in the palace, lit by magic and gaslight. In Finaqua, I worked by candlelight, with no windows to speak of.

"Damn it all!" I crumpled the paper I'd been writing on, "this makes no sense! None whatsoever!"

I made a growling noise and rested my forehead on the desk. I could hardly focus on anything anymore, and I was filled with worry, although I never showed it on the outside. Our army had just gone north of Central City to fight, and no one had heard word from them since they'd departed some weeks earlier.

"They've probably all died," I said dismissively, staring at the ceiling, "They're all dead and I'll soon be dead, and we'll all be dead, and evil will reign in the Outer Zone, all because some children got curious and were taken advantage of!"

And what kind of monster took advantage of children anyways? They were innocent!

"I suppose evil doesn't really care about innocence…that's why it's called evil and all…" I stretched my arms and winced as the joints cracked. I'd been in the same position for far too long, "Damn her! The stupid witch! I hope she rots!"

It was foolish to say such things, of course. Azkadellia would probably die, and how would I feel if she died? She was still in there…somewhere…

"But perhaps her death would save thousands," I said, then instantly regretted saying it, as memories of my attempts at teaching a young princess to skate fluttered through my mind, "No…no reason for that. None at all…"

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, "I just want this to stop!"

Then, quite suddenly, I felt a pair of cool hands on my neck, massaging it. Gently, I felt upwards, and then turned around to see whose arms I was holding. I let out a yel and toppled out pf the chair, sending it to the ground.

"Ambrose, what's wrong?" DG asked, "You look horrible."

"No…no…you can't be here…"

"Why can't I be? I love you, remember? I'd do anything for you. I'd come back from death for you, if only to make you happy."

I blinked and stared. It looked exactly like DG should have looked, had she been alive: thirteen or fourteen years old, with those amazing blue eyes and dark, messy hair.

"Ambrose," she whispered sadly, "don't you miss me?"

"Yes," I nodded, "gods, DGG, I miss you more than…than…than the hundreds that have died in this war. I'd kill them all again if it would bring you back."

DG wrapped her arms around me and sighed into my shirt, "I've missed you, Ambrose."

My breath caught in my throat and I buried my fingers in her hair and held her there, "I guarantee, doll, that I have missed you thousands of times more than you've missed me."

DG looked up at me and smiled, "Maybe. I love you, Ambrose."

I smiled and simply held her, overjoyed to have her with me-overjoyed being a grand understatement.

"Ambrose?" she whispered after a while, "Ambrose?"

"Hmmm?" I said, eyes shut.

"Can you kiss me?"

My eyes snapped open at that. I adored her, yes, but not as a lover. Not yet. That time would come eventually, but she was still nothing but a dear friend at that point. Gently, I kissed her forehead as I did many years ago, and she laughed.

"You're sweet, Ambrose, but that's not what I meant," her grip suddenly became tight and she forced me downwards, so that our noses almost touched, "kiss me as if we were already married."

"DG…no…" I gurgled out, and then she forced her lips on mine, and a chill ran down my spine. Ever hair stood on end, and if I was covered in ice.

"DG…DG…" I struggled against her, but she was strong. Unnaturally strong, "STOP!"

I pushed her away, and looked on in horror as DG morphed into Azkadellia, who stood there cackling.

"I guarantee I've missed you thousands of times more than you missed me," she taunted, "trust me, Ambrose; she's not missing you where she is!"

"You!"

"How accurate of you."

I backed into the desk and stayed there, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that-whatever I can get."

I blinked and looked around. Of course! Azkadellia had knowledge of what some of my inventions did, and the witch no doubt found their uses…promising.

"Think about it, Ambrose. You're good at thinking. Your precious Queen is fighting a losing battle, and I'd hate to see such brilliance go to waste."

"What are you implying?"

"You know, for someone so smart, you're certainly an idiot under pressure. Let me put it this way: join me, or suffer the same fate as all your precious little friends."

I glared at her, "I'd rather suffer such a fate then even be in the same room as you!"

"Oh, don't tempt me, Advisor!" she sneered.

I cast a sidelong glance at my desk; it was covered in books and papers. Things the witch wanted; things she could use against us.

"Besides, I don't really need you…stay on your precious light side…just give me what I want and you can go on fighting in peace."

"As if that will convince me."

"Give me the plans to your sun machine."

"You want the sunseeder?" I asked, oblivious as to how that could help the witch.

"Yes Ambrose, give me the plans for the sunseeder," Azkadellia held out her hand and I stared at it mutely, "give it to me!"

I glared, hooked my finger around the candleholder on the table, and said, "No!"

Then I tipped the candle over, setting aflame the papers on my desk. Azkadellia let out a horrible cry, and with one movement of her arm, I was sent flying into the wall, and the world went black.

"Mister Ambrose…Mister Ambrose!"

I opened my eyes and looked up into the face of a beaten looking messenger.

"What-where am I?"

"We found you in the remains of your lab," he said, nodding to his companion, who looked as beaten as he was.

"And….where am I now?" I blinked and sat up.

"The floor," he said sheepishly, "we couldn't carry you all that far."

"That's…alright…" I rubbed my eyes and slowly got to my feet.

"Mister Ambrose, we have news for the Queen."

I scratched my head, still feeling tired and worn out, "Let's hear it then."

"Azkadellia has seized Central City."

At the mention of Azkadellia's name, my memory instantly returned to what had transpired in my lab.

"I must tell the Queen at once," I said, making to bolt of.

"Wait! There's…there's one more thing."

* * *

And then I was running, fast, to see the Queen, who was seated outside, enjoying the fresh air. Her health since the death of DG had not improved greatly, and she really did enjoy the air. It appeared to calm her, at any rate. I slowed down as I approached, wringing my hands nervously. I had a million things spinning in my head. Azkadellia becoming DG…her making me set the lab on fire…and this latest horrible news….I couldn't even think of where to begin. Taking a deep breath, I kneeled at the arm of her chair and spoke whatever bit of information came to mind first.

"Majesty, I bring bad news, I said gravely, "the princess Azkadellia has seized Central City."

"Have our men pull back," she instructed carefully, "set oppositions to the South…"

I shook my head, heart sinking even further after everything I'd just been through, as I realized I would have to give my Queen such a crushing blow, "Uh…"

"What?"

"The fourth brigade has fallen. General Lonnet has defected."

The look of shock and sadness in her eyes was unbearable, but I simply looked at her, unsure of what to do.

"He was our most loyal friend."

"I'm so sorry. There is no law other than Azkadellia's," I paused, then resolved to begin telling her about what had transpired in my lab, even if it hurt, "she tried to steal the plans for the sunseeder, but I was able to destroy the blueprints!"

I smiled nervously, wondering how the Queen would react to such a statement. Would she be horrified that Azkadellia had gotten within Finaqua? Would she be angry that I hadn't come and told her sooner? In all fairness, I was unconscious, but she didn't know that. Instead, she gripped my arm sympathetically.

"She'll come after you, Ambrose."

I nodded. _You mean like she already had?_ I thought, and then asked, "Is there nothing you can do?"

"It's too late. The darkness is too deeply rooted in her-"

"-But your light!" propriety be damned; I cut her off, "You are the most powerful being in all of the O.Z.!"

"Wise old friend…" the exhaustion in her voice made me feel even more miserable than ever before. In that split second, mid-sentence pause, I felt all hope leave me, and I knew I was about to be told hat my Queen, whom I'd worshipped and served for so long, could do nothing, "I gave up my light to save someone very special…"

_What?_ I looked up into her eyes, and-for th first time in years-I saw them twinkle with alight I thought had been permanently gone.

"…my angel."

Those words. Those two tiny words. I'll remember them forever. DG was always called an angel by the Queen…and if she'd given up her magic to save her…then that meant that DG was…

Footsteps. I looked up and saw Azkadellia and her men approaching, and she wore a mocking smile that made me want to beat her head in with a shovel.

"Show some respect!" I demanded, rising from my place.

"The Queen's reign ends today," she declared, sounding delighted.

"DO you have any idea what you're doing?" the Queen asked, looking at what was once her eldest daughter.

"I do. You need a long rest mother. Take her away," she then turned her taunting face to me and smirked, "and take him to the Alchemist. If you won't tell me what you know, I guess I'll just have t reach in and take it myself."

And with that I was led off, and you know what? I didn't even put up much of a fight. DG was alive. Hope was not lost. I didn't know the full details of what the Queen had in mind, but there was still someone out there; someone I loved very much. Some one who could save us all.


	14. Chapter 14

I was so sure they'd torture me, or use a Viewer; anything to get me to talk

I was so sure they'd torture me, or use a Viewer; anything to get me to talk. It would seem, however, that Azkadellia had run out of patience with me. I wasn't even in her captivity for very long. It only took a few days for the vehicle transporting me to her tower to reach its destination, and all the while I lay there handcuffed, staring at the roof.

"He's lost it," one of the longcoats cackled, "not even putting up a fight!"

I didn't feel the need to. For eight long years, I'd been stuffy and serious, and I'd felt as though all hope was lost for me. But now…I wasn't happy, exactly. I was hopeful, which isn't really the same, but it was enough to keep me quiet and unafraid.

_DG is alive…no matter what they do now, there is still someone who can save us all_, I thought, and continued to think as they pushed me from the vehicle and led me into the prison.

"Ah, here we are," Azkadellia-through magic, no doubt-had beaten us to the tower, "Ambrose. Can I have another kiss?"

"Over my dead body," I snarled.

"You make it sound so tempting," she sighed, "sadly, I don't need you dead. Not yet, anyways. I think we can have some fun with you, at any rate. Alchemist!"

From behind her, the Alchemist came forward, smirking. He reminded me of something slimy from the underside of a rock; almost nonhuman.

"Yes, this will work perfectly," he grinned, and I inwardly shuddered, "and the hilarity of it all…"

"Hilarity?" I asked.

"You're the Queen's most loyal, intelligent subject," Azkadellia grinned, "and yet you're going to become the scum of the earth and probably won't even remember her name."

Now I was worried, and I struggled against the longcoats, who held onto my arms tightly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, glaring up at her.

"Well, I don't need you, you see; I need your brain. Part of it, anyways…and I always take what I want."

The truth sunk in and I struggled worse than ever. It was the fate of the Outer Zone's worst criminals that half their brains be removed, reducing them to harmless, confused being who had no memory of how to tie their own shoes, let alone commit a crime. It was effective, but it was also horrible, especially for someone like me, who was only good for his thoughts and nothing more.

"Now you're worried," she smirked wickedly, "good. I like to see those who cross me go down screaming. Perhaps I'll even record your voice as they put you to sleep…"

"Az…Az, please, you don't want to do this! I mean-gods, I used to play with you! When you were a little girl, remember? I taught you to skate and…and…and I built you that boat, remember? The blue boat that we played with until it got too cold to put it in the water? You don't want to do this to me, I'm your friend!"

Azkadellia looked at me coolly, "I don't remember any boat."

"You won't get away with this!" I cried.

"Please, don't be such a cliché. Besides, I've as good as done it already. Take the soon to be head-case away."

"No!"

I was dragged down hallways, thrown down flights of stairs, and eventually shoved into an operating room. By this time, I was frantic. I needed to remember DG! I needed to! I couldn't help someone I couldn't know, and as horribly sappy as it sounds, I felt as though my heart would simply fail if I forgot who DG was; that's how important she was to me.

"Strap him down! I don't need him kicking about while we try to put him to sleep!" the Alchemist barked, and the longcoats held me down on the operating table. I even attempted to use what little fighting skill I'd picked up from my father, but this only made them laugh at my attempt to "match them at their own game." I was strapped down, and was beyond hysterical. I couldn't even move, and was simply reduced to begging.

"No…please don't…don't do this…please, it won't-it won't work! Please!"

I felt something prick my arm-the needle.

"Count back from one hundred," the Alchemist said.

"Please…please…" I begged, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Ninety-nine, ninety-eight…"

"Don't…don't…" I pleaded, even as the first wave of drowsiness came o0ver me. Drugs were flowing through my bloodstream, and the world was quickly fading away. I fought against it, thinking _DG…the Queen…everyone…DG…_

"Ninety-seven…ninety-six…"

"Don't…"


	15. Chapter 15

I was awake

I was awake. That's perfect-being awake is good, because if you're not, then you're…well…not awake. You're of no use…when you're not awake. I sat up and looked around. Well, that was perfect. Where was I? I was looking at a tree. It was very pretty tree, and I tried to get to it, stumbling the entire way, until I eventually slumped up against the bark.

"Well, that was weird," I said out loud, looking down and shaking my…what were they called again? You used them to move from place to place, one in front of the other…

"Foot!" I said suddenly, flinging my left foot so far out in front of me that I lost my balance and fell over, crashing my head into the tree, "Oh-ow!"

I rubbed my head, and then paused. Something was…wrong there. Or at least, I thought there was something wrong there. I had something…cold in my head.

"Huh….that's strange. I don't remember that being there before. Wait, what before? Was there a before? Of course there was a before, because if not then there couldn't be a now, now could there? Could there? Could there? Could there? Could there?"

I sat there and traced the feeling of metal on my head, and concluded that it was…a thing. A thing that wasn't there before, even though I couldn't remember what the before was.

"What's the thing?" I asked out loud, using a low slung branch to pull myself to my feet. I wobbled, then steadied myself, "Well, would you look at that! I can stand! Of course I can stand! Why shouldn't I be able to stand? I've always been able to do this! Old trick! Ha!"

I let go and put my hands on my hips in triumph. Then I fell over.

"Ow! Stop doing that! Wait, I can't tell myself to stop doing that! That makes no sense! Or does it…that's how it should work. You think is, and you do it!"

So I tried again, this time with success.

"Great! Now for movement…one in front of the other. Come on…feet? Oh yes, feet, that's what I called them before, right? Feet!"

Shakily, I put one foot in front of the other and…I moved! I managed to move!

"This is great!" I exclaimed, "kind of…difficult though…there should be some kind of…thing here…"

I tapped somewhere midway down my leg, and then my eyes widened. Oh yeah! It bended! I slowly tried walking again, bending my…well, the part that bent as I tried to take steps.

"This is much better. I like having legs that bend!"

That's when I heard it. Something…giggled. What a funny noise a giggle was…but what was it for? I paused, listened, then imitated the noise, and quite perfectly too. This made the giggle grow louder, so I made my giggle louder as well. This made the giggle even louder, and I frowned. Now I had to go louder! What a cruel game! How loud did they want me to go? Well, I'd show them. I giggled so loudly, I scared away some nearby birds. It also sent me keeling backwards. How inconvenient! I sat up and looked around.

"Alright you…giggling person! Come out and show me your giggling face…or I'll…I'll stand up and…haha-you won't like it when I stand up!"

A blonde head poked out from behind a tree.

"Hello there!" I waved, causing my arm to slip. I managed to catch myself before I fell back again-I'd had enough falling for one day!

The little girl came over, "You're silly!"

"I'm silly?" I repeated curiously, "I'm silly? I'm silly? I'm silly?"

"Mommy, the funny man is stuck!"

"Funny man?" another voice said, "Lucy, what have I told you about running off-Gods!"

A woman came into the clearing and as soon as she saw me, she ran forwards and grabbed her daughter.

"You keep away from her!"

"Her?" I paused, then smiled, "I'm silly!"

Lucy giggled, but the woman dragged her away, saying, "don't talk to strangers, Lucy, we're in hiding, and that man is dangerous!"

"He seemed funny to me!" was the last thing I heard as they faded from my line of sight. Well, that was strange. It looked like the woman was afraid of me. But why? All I did was giggle!

"What funny people people are…" I said, standing up again with no wobbling, "hey! I'm getting the hang of this!"

So I walked, head held high through the forest, turning this was and that to look at all the pretty things. The forest is pretty…pretty. It's all green and shiny when the suns hit the leaves of the trees, and the birds were squeaking. Chirping. Whatever the word was. Soon, I was humming to myself, grinning the whole time. Then I heard voices. Maybe it was Lucy again! Oh, I'd so love to hear her giggle again, and I wanted to talk to the woman. I didn't understand what she said about me, and I like to know what people say about me…or at least, I thought I did. To be honest, I couldn't remember exactly hearing other people talk about me before. Oh well, first time for everything! I followed the voices to another clearing, and pulled back some branches. I saw a whole bunch of people sitting around a fire. I remembered fire!

"I remember fire!" I said to myself, to confirm the fact that I remembered it. Then, confidently, I strode out into the clearing, waving my hands to get the attention of the people around the fire.

"Who is that?" someone asked.

"A headcase!" someone else cried.

"Criminal!"

I frowned and stopped. Criminal? Where? Who? Not me! I looked around wildly to see where the criminal was, but didn't find anything. Where these people stupid or something?

"Wait, look what he's wearing," a young man came forwards and pointed at me, "that's royal uniform! From the old queen's reign! I remember seeing it, clear as day, on her most trusted servants!"

I blinked. At the mention of the word 'queen' and 'trusted,' I got a squishy feeling in my stomach. I gripped my stomach, wondering what that meant and how to fix it.

"Come here," he said kindly, and I did, "where did you come from?"

I paused, then pointed back the way I came, "No, wait, that can't be right…um…" I then turned around a few times, and frowned, "I don't know. Isn't that weird? Shouldn't I know?"

"Not after what you've been through," another man snorted.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Take a good look in the mirror lately?"

"Mirror?" I repeated, and then suddenly froze.

_A fragmented mirror…cutting my hair…I was sad…_

"But why was I sad?" I asked out loud, frowning, "was I sad?"

And then I sat down on one of their logs and tried to think. Tried, really tried, but something was wrong. It was like I forgot what thinking was. I knew it existed and I knew the people around me were doing a bang up job thinking for themselves, but me? Well, the very thought of thinking made me dizzy. Wait, the thought of thinking? Isn't that a thought? I began to feel sick and started to rock back and forth. Nothing can live without thinking; I knew that-didn't I? I knew something! Well, I imagine I knew a lot of things. Or did I? I didn't know how to walk when I'd first woken up, but I knew I should have known how to do that! And then there was the matter of waking up? Why did I wake up? Why…why was I even in the forest? How did I get there-people didn't wind up in the forest randomly. Were there always two suns in the sky? I shook my head. _Focus_. But it was a weird question! No, not weird, not important. No, no, no-I had to try hard to think.

"Hey…you…" one of the men sat next to me and held out his hand, "I'm Marcus."

"That's nice," I nodded, staring at the hand presented to me.

"You're supposed to shake it."

"What?"

"My hand. You shake hands and tell people your name."

I knew that! I said defensively, though the memory of doing so only returned after Marcus mentioned it. This made things even worse, because I remembered shaking hands with bucket loads of people, but I couldn't remember why or when or…why.

"What's your name? Do you even know your name?"

What a stupid question, "Of course I do, it's A-"

I paused. My name! I knew my name! I knew I used to know my name, at any rate! But surely I did have a name, one that had been with me my whole life? Everyone had a name. I began to rock again, feeling nauseous.

"My name…my name…" I shut my eyes and screwed up my face, "oh…my name…name…name…"

I think you broke him," someone whispered. My eyes snapped open and I realized my cheeks were suddenly wet.

"You made him cry!" Marcus shot back.

Cry? Oh of course, I remembered crying! I remembered not crying. There was something I cried on the inside for…but that's just silly, because you can't cry on the inside…could you? I sniffled, confused, and feeling very, very lonely.

"What happened to me?" I asked Marcus. He sighed and helped me up off the log. Gently, he guided me towards one of their larger tents.

"You…well, by the looks of it, Azkadellia got to you."

"Azka-D," I said suddenly, heart turning cold at the thought.

"You know who Azkadellia is?"

I did, and the very act of knowing something terrified me. I remembered Azkadellia; she was an evil witch who was responsible for whatever happened to me.

"Well, she's taken over all of the Outer Zone-that's where we are, by the way-"

"-I know where we are!" I said defensively, which was true…I think.

"Well, anyways, you're wearing a royal uniform, so I guess you used to work for the old queen, and Azkadellia must have done this as punishment."

"But done what?" I asked, getting frustrated. People kept telling me that something was done to me, which I easily figured out on my own. Well, maybe not easily, but any brainless idiot could work out that something was wrong with them after thinking on it a bit.

"Well…she likely took out part of your brain."

"My _brain_?" I said. Didn't you need one of those for something? Something important…how could someone take part of it?

"That's why you're forgetting things," Marcus said with a sigh, "didn't you wonder why you had a zipper in your head. That's how they sealed up the surgery."

"A zipper?" I repeated, tracing the metallic feeling in my head. That explained a lot; I knew what I zipper was. I remembered having a coat with a zipper, and the fabric always got caught in it, it was so troublesome…wait, when did I own a coat? I didn't have that one on me now. How long ago was that? Marcus opened the tent flap and I went in. He followed, and I realized that he probably lived in here. There was certainly lots of…stuff. After some rummaging, he handed me something.

"A mirror," he said. I looked at it…and saw someone looking back! I jumped, stumbled, and then landed on my behind for the millionth time, "wait-that's me!"

"That's your reflection. Mirrors are used to see what you look like."

"And reflecting light," I said automatically.

"What?"

"What?"

"You just said something."

"Yes, I did," I smiled, "I say a lot of things! I think I do, anyways…"

I held up the mirror again, slowly so as not to scare myself. So that's what I looked like! I had brown hair and eyes, and pale skin. _That's because I didn't go outside all that much after…something. Something? Well, what something. A something something. Oh...wait, what?_

"You going to be alright?" Marcus asked nervously. I looked up from the mirror and nodded.

"Yes, I'll be fine."

"Alright then, I'm just going to talk to the others…so if you need anything, call."

"Will do."

Marcus left the tent, and I resumed staring at myself.

"So, here I am," I said, frowning slightly, "here…I…am…"

But who was I? I obviously existed, yet as far as I could tell, I had no name. But I knew I used to have a name…but part of my brain was removed. Which is why I forgot everything. It was why I had a zipper in my head, because at some point in my life, there was no zipper. I was zipper-free. Zipperless. Completely void of anything remotely close to zippery.

"But zippers can be unzipped!" I said suddenly, "so…so…I can unzip this zipper, and…"

_And do what?_

"Well, see what's inside."

_But you already know what's in there, and what's not in there._

"At this point I don't think I know much of anything," I said, then, holding the mirror higher so I could get a half decent reflection of the top of my head, I unzipped the zipper and looked inside.

Bad move.

Very bad move.

Blood gooped out the moment I unzipped it, and there was massive stinging feeling on the inside of my skull. The sight was even worse, for I could remember not only what a full brain looked like, but I knew for certain that half my brain was gone, and removed poorly. Everything was all…red and…pink…and…mushy…

My stomach instantly rebelled, and I bolted from the tent, passed the staring people, and into the forest once more, where I doubled over and vomited up anything I'd eaten in the past few days (not that I remembered eating, but the evidence was quite literally coming out of me…so…). When I was done with that, I shuddered and lay on my side.

"I can't be like this," I whispered, then began to cry, "I can't be like this. I can't be like this. I can't be like this. I can't be like this. I can't be like this. I can't be like this…"

I sniffled, and then sneezed, getting dirt up my nose, and shut my eyes tightly. Maybe I'd wake up again and this would be a bad dream, a horrible dream, and I'd have a name and be surrounded by people who knew me.

"Hey…you. Are you alright?" Marcus came over and when he saw me, his eyes suddenly went wide, "whoa…what happened here?"

I opened my eyes and flipped onto my front, using my hands to hold the upper half of me up. There was a small pool of blood where my head had rested.

"I unzipped it," I said, licking my lips and tasting dirt, "and everything sort of…spilled out."

"You shouldn't have unzipped your head," Marcus came over and zipped it back up. When he took his hand away, I saw blood on it, which made me shudder, "especially not if you plan on lying on the ground. You'll get dirt inside your head."

"That would be bad," I nodded, "that would be bad. That would be bad."

"You just said that. Twice."

"I did?" I blinked.

"You don't remember saying it?"

"No," I ran my fingers nervously through my dirty hair, "must be because my synapses don't fire right or something, huh?"

"Synapses? How do you know that word but not your own name?"

I shook my head, "I…don't know. How weird is that?"

Marcus smiled, which made me feel a little better about myself. Not much, but every little bit helps, right? He held out his hand and I took it without hesitation.

"Let's get you cleaned up and introduce you to the others."


	16. Chapter 16

After combing the dirt and blood out of my hair and giving me a washcloth to scrub my face with (I didn't use the mirror again for a long while), Marcus led me out to the campfire. It was starting to grow dark (Night! I remembered nighttime!), and everyone was huddled around the campfire for light and warmth.

"Everyone, I want you to meet out new guest," Marcus smiled and pushed me forwards lightly. I stumbled over, stood straight, and nervously stared at everyone. Their faces glowed thanks to the firelight. This did nothing to make me feel comfortable. Actually, it was creepy. Never give speeches in front of a fire; it's eerie.

"H-hello everyone," I smiled shakily, "the name's Glitch."

"Glitch?" Marcus asked.

I nodded, "Because of my synapses, remember? They don't fire right."

"Good man!" one of the older men laughed, which was really more like a loud bark. He was kind of dog-like, which really struck a chord in me for some reason, "when you can't remember who you are, you make your own identity!"

"Uh…yes…" I nodded.

"You can sit next to me, Glitch," a woman said, patting a space on the log next to her.

"Oh, sure," I sat down.

"I'm Marietta, she said, "and this is Daryl, Glen, Sylvie, and Danver. You already met Marcus."

Glen was the man who reminded me of a dog. He winked at me, and I smiled politely back. Creepy dog people…

They got to talking about the state of the Outer Zone under Azka-D's rule

"She scorched Finaqua," Sylvie said sadly.

"Scorched?" Daryl looked confused.

"Made it a complete wasteland. It's the first case of major damage we've seen, not including the castle, of course."

"Probably used it for the same reason too," Glen growled, "making an example of all the good places to show what happens to people who don't follow her every whim."

"I was at Finaqua once…" Danver said wistfully, "I sure do miss it."

"Well, there's not much left to miss."

"So…who are you people, anyways?" I asked as Glen thrust a bowl of soup into my hands.

"We're members of the resistance," he said, returning to his seat, "We're fighting against Azkadellia."

"We?"

"There are pockets of us all over the O.Z., though most of outs are being caught and punished every day," he frowned at the thought.

"Downright shame too," Sylvie said, blowing on her soup to cool it, "I hear Thom was killed a while back, and his wife and daughter ran off somewhere in hiding…"

"Daughter?" I asked, "Does she like to giggle?"

"What?"

"Oh, what was that little girl's name," I bit my lip and tried to remember.

"Glitch," Marcus leaned forwards, "did you see a girl and her mother in the forest?"

"Yes, I did. They ran away though."

"Think hard, Glitch. What were their names?"

"I don't know…the girl's name began with an 'llll' noise thought."

"Lucy!"

I snapped my fingers, "That's the one! Lucy! What a nice person she was too! Giggling away!"

"They're in the forest!" Danver leapt up, slipped, then fell back down again. I smiled at that; he was as clumsy as I was, and he had a full brain inside his skull!

"We should go find them."

"It's growing dark," Marietta said apprehensively, "it'll be hard to find them."

"All the more reason to look for them now; who knows how dangerous the forest is at night!"

I sat there stupidly as the resistance fighters prepared to go out and search. Before they left, Marcus handed me a whistle.

"Blow this is they come here, or if there's trouble."

I nodded, "I only wish I could…help."

"Hey, you let us know where they were in the first place. That's something!"

I nodded again and looked at the whistle; it was shiny. I smiled and titled my head to the side slightly. Marcus stared at me for a bit, and then followed the group out into the forest.

"You're a pretty thing," I said, holding up the whistle, "pretty thing for a pretty girl."

I stopped. _Pretty girl? What pretty girl? There was a pretty girl?_

"Of course there was a pretty girl," I said, annoyed, "would I say something about a pretty girl if there was not pretty girl to say stuff about."

_And yet you can't think of who she is._

"It's…probably that Lucy girl; she was-is-pretty. She had a nice giggle."

_Oh, you know that's not true!_

"Do I?"

_Well, not really. You don't know anything._

"Hey, that's not fair! I know…stuff!"

_No you don't_.

I crossed my arms, "Well, how do you know?"

_Because I'm you, moron!_

"Oh…yeah…" I uncrossed my arms and grumbled slightly.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake.

"What-hi, I'm Glitch!" I sat up and looked around, "what happened?"

A face frowned and looked down at me, "It's me, Glitch-Marcus."

"Oh…right…" I sat up and dusted myself off, "I…I think…where…"

"We went to go find Lucy-that girl in the forest-and her mother."

"Oh yeah…that…you found them?"

"We did; they're sleeping in the tent now."

"That's good," I smiled and nodded, then yawned.

"You know, we have more sleeping bags. You don't have to sleep on a log."

I looked down, only just realizing that I was, in fact, sleeping on a log, "Oh. Right. Log."

I got up and staggered over to the tent Marcus pointed out to me, and lay down on top of a sleeping bag. Danver was next to me, snoring loudly I gave him an annoyed look, but…being asleep, he really couldn't see it, now could he? I must have eventually dozed off, because the next thing I knew, I was hearing giggles. I opened my eyes and smiled up at Lucy.

"Hey there you," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Hi," she smiled.

"My name's Glitch."

"I'm Lucy."

"I know. I mean hi. I mean what?"

Lucy giggled again, "You're silly."

I sat up, "I am not. I'm brainless. Well, half brainless. It makes a difference."

"Why are you brainless?"

"Half brainless," I corrected with a sigh, "and I don't know. I used to work for the Queen, before the days of Azkadellia. I guess its punishment."

"Well, she killed daddy," Lucy frowned at that, "why didn't she kill you?"

I frowned as well, "I don't have an answer for that. I wish I did, though. It could be helpful."

"Lucy, what did I tell you about bothering these people?"

I looked up to see her mother's face blocking the half-opened tent flap.

"I wasn't doing anything!" she and I both said at the same time. I was so sure the woman would still be afraid of me.

She smiled and entered the tent, "I know; Marcus explained everything. I'm terribly sorry for what I did before, and I'm very sorry for what was done to you."

"We were just talking about that!" Lucy said excitedly, "He doesn't know why this was done. Why was it done?"

The woman frowned, "Darling, that's not really the sort of question you should ask people in his situation. It's rude."

"No, actually, it would be helpful if someone could…you know…help me," I said with a shrug, "I'm not offended."

"I…I don't know if I'm the person to answer that…I'm sorry."

"That's OK," I smiled, "my name is Glitch!"

"I'm Lucille."

"Oh, so you must be the first Lucy, and she'll be the second," I said, pointing from mother to daughter, "I heard about people doing stuff like that once."

"It's not all that unusual."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Lucy One," I nodded. Lucy One frowned and left her daughter out of the tent.

"I've done something, haven't I?" I asked no one in particular "right there. I said something funny."

_Well, what do you expect with half a brain?_

"I have got to stop talking to myself," I rolled my eyes, "I'm not a very nice guy."


	17. Chapter 17

"Pack up, people

"Pack up, people!"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Where was I? Danver was snoring, which reminded me that I was at the resistance campsite.

"Come ON!"

Danver let out a loud snort and sat up, "What?"

"Marcus said come on," I sighed, rising to get out of the tent.

"There must be longcoats nearby," he paled and then followed me out.

"What makes you think that?"

"We only move so suddenly if they're catching up to us."

"Oh."

Well, it made sense. We'd been there for two weeks, and I was beginning to wonder what the heck resistance fighters even did, because apparently fighting wasn't one of them. Now, it appeared, they ran. Wait, that wasn't right! They were supposed to fight!

_Fight and right rhyme…no!_ I had to stay focused.

"Hang on," I found Marcus, "don't you guys fight the longcoats?"

"We also like to live to fight another day," he said, "we need more people."

"So you're going to get….r…" I tilted my head to the side and frowned, "reee…"

"Reinforcements?"

"No! Yes!" I paused, "I think."

"Yeah, we're going to get more people."

I nodded, "So…where are you going to get these people?"

"There's a small village east of here. You can settle there if you like."

I bit my lip and thought as hard as anyone with half-a-brain could think. I knew I wasn't of any use to the resistance fighters-that thing with Lucy One and Two was more luck than anything I'd actually done-that being said, I really wanted to help. I needed to help. Where this need came from, I had no idea, but it was as if something inside me was pushing me forwards, trying to get me to become a resistance fighter too.

"Yeah…" I nodded, "yeah, I think I will settle down."

Marcus nodded approvingly, and then went to help pack up. I mentally smacked myself, wondering when I'd become spineless as well as brainless.

"You OK, Glitch?"

Danver came over and I jumped slightly, "Yes, I'm…peachy?"

"You looked like a statue for a second."

"Thinking…is hard for someone like me. Takes a lot of energy and…you know…stuff."

"I don't know…I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit. You're probably not as dumb as you think you are."

I nodded, not really believing anything he'd said, and then smiled, "Well, I imagine I can at least settle down and start a new life…seeing as how I can't really remember my old one."

"Think of it as a way of starting fresh."

"Exactly!"

"You can be whoever you want."

"It's perfect."

"Most people would kill for such an opportunity."

"I know I would do it again!"

"You don't believe a word I'm saying."

"Not a word," I smirked and then sighed, "but it's a nice thought…I guess."

Danver patted me on the back sympathetically and returned to help the others.

"You're coming back with mum and me!" Lucy Two came over and grabbed my hand, swinging it slightly.

"I…guess so."

"That's good," she said brightly, "we're going to get a new home there and mum says she may have to change our last names…but you can stay with us!"

I got this really uncomfortable feeling in my stomach at the idea of joining Lucy Two's family. It's not as though with time I wouldn't have belonged, because I knew I would fit in eventually…I just didn't _want_ to fit in with them.

"I think I may try to make my own way in the world and figure stuff out on my own."

"Are you suuuuuure?"

I shuffled from foot to foot, uncomfortable, "Yes, very much so…but thanks for the offer, Lucy Two."

Lucy Two nodded and scurried off to find her mother, leaving me alone with my half-brained thoughts

--

The village was less…pretty…than I thought it would be, to be honest. I had a vision of a very nice, close-knit group of people who were willing to accept me with open arms. That didn't happen. Marcus got me a room in a shabby inn and paid for the next two months, saying that I could get easy work here and live a normal life. Either his definition of normal was very cruel, or he thought the villagers were nicer than they actually were. Either way, my attempt at finding work was a failure, and people more or less ignored me. Even the innkeeper, and old woman named Martha, looked at me with…nervousness every time I walked by. By the fifth day of failing to get a job, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop looking at me like I have tentacles," I said when I saw her that afternoon, "I don't. I am…was…well…I worked for the Queen!"

Martha looked shocked, "Well excuse me, but I see no queens here. Only a headcase who had some grand delusions about being something he's not."

"But I did! You can ask Marcus!"

"Marcus was just guessing. As far as I can tell, you're like all the other zipperheads out there!"

That ticked me off. I wasn't some random guy from the street! I was…well, me! I hadn't done anything wrong.

"Look, I just want a new life. Is that too much to ask?"

Martha shrugged. Apparently it was. I was about to turn and trudge to my room when a voice said:

"Hey now Martha, don't be such a stick in the mud. We could use a dish washer. Let him do that!"

It was one of the maids. Martha looked annoyed by the thought of employing me, but I didn't care.

"Oh, Martha!" I got down on my knees, "Please, please, please let me wash the dishes, please! Just…give me enough money for rent and…and food…heck, never mind the food. Please, I just need…a place. To start over."

The maid giggled, but Martha was not amused.

"Fine, but…don't expect special treatment because you're handicapped. You get one platinum per week."

I nodded, knowing full well it was less than the other employees, but simply grateful to have a job.

"Thank you so much, you won't regret it! I know I can wash dishes, I just know it!"

Well, I could wash dishes, thank you very much, and pretty well at that. It was even fun…for the first hour. Then the delight of being a working man wore of and I realized my apparent fall in status. How did I go from being a person who worked for royalty to a dishwasher?

"Azkadellia," I said angrily, clutching a dish in my soapy hands as though I wanted to strangle it. I could picture her in my mind, though I had no memory of having met her, and my blood ran cold. She took my life from me, me brain, me…family? Well, I didn't know that for sure, but I must've had a family somewhere, right? Or maybe I was an orphan, so no one was out there looking for me. I had a sense of family in me, whatever that means. Sighing, I washed the dish and took another, then another, and for a long while, life seemed to be nothing but an endless line of dirty dishes that needed cleaning.


	18. Chapter 18

Months went by, and then years. Four, to be exact. Can you believe it? Four years of dishwashing. How sad and pathetic. I had become the village idiot, to be honest; bumbling around town, fingers wrinkled from all the water, and constantly forgetting my way.

"Hey Glitch!" people would shout, "Can I have directions to Martha's inn?"

Then they'd laugh in my face, mocking me about how I forget the very place I lived and worked. I only had one set of clothes that I washed with leftover dish soap out back after everyone had gone to bed, because I didn't remember how to properly wash clothes, and I didn't have the money for it, anyways.

"You smell lemony," Lucy Two once said when I ran into her outside one day. I laughed at that, but inside, I think my stomach melted with sadness…which is a really weird though. I mean…can you feel something so intense your organs could actually melt? Well, I guess that's why it's a feeling and not a fact then, right?

When I'd realized I'd been there for four miserable years, I glitched in shock, and someone had to fix me by whacking me over the head with a book, because (apparently), I was standing there, staring at the calendar like a statue, repeating the word 'what?'

"Thanks Betty," I sighed, rubbing my head and not feeling very thankful at all.

"Anytime, Glitch."

Boy, wasn't _that_ reassuring.

_Well, I think it's safe to say you've more or less wasted this so-called second chance._

"Oh shut up!" I told the voice in my head…which was really me.

_What do you expect? You have no brain!_

"Do too! Half of one!"

Just enough to clean dishes…

"Exactly. I mean-no! I can do more…"

Oh, can you?

"Uh-huh, I can…" I paused and looked at Betty, who was staring at me as if I were weird, "what?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, leaving the room rather quickly.

_I think you scared her._

"I know. I don't care anymore," I sat down and sighed, "I want to do something else."

"Then stop moaning about it."

It took me a while to realize that it wasn't me just thinking to myself, and then I looked up, "Marcus! You're back!"

"Yeah."

"How are the others…Danver, and Glen, and…um…Danver!"

"Danver died last year, remember? I've told you three times now."

A wave of grief passed through me. I tried to shake it off, knowing I'd done this two times before, but I couldn't. Marcus sighed and put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're a good man, Glitch. Too good to wash dishes forever in a place where no one appreciates you."

"Easy for you to say; you don't have a big honkin' zipper in your head scaring everyone around you…"

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this isn't the place for you. You could go someplace bigger…someplace where you won't stick out like a sore thumb."

"Gee…thanks…" I sighed, wriggling away from his hand, "and how would I do that?"

"Go to a bigger town. A city. Central City is probably your best bet."

"My best bet? I'll bet it is, just like you betted this place was supposed to be my best bet."

"Well…I…what?"

"It makes sense in my head, OK?" I traced my zipper self-consciously, "what would I do in Central City-wash fancier dishes?"

Something about Central City made my blood run cold. Well, not literally, but I couldn't shake this feeling that something bad happened around there. Which was really weird because I'd heart great things about it for people staying in the inn. They called it the shining city on the hill…or something like that. It was pretty popular, I guess.

"You could do anything there, Glitch, anything at all."

"See, now, I've heard this before, so really…"

"Hey, it's your call. Do what you like, but don't sit around and whine about things you can change."

* * *

That night, after the last round of dirty dishes, I trudged up the steps to my room and sighed. Someone-probably a guest-had written 'zipperhead' on my door in large, green letters. I'd have to scrub it off before Martha saw, or she'd somehow find a way to blame me. I unlocked my door, planning on cleaning up tomorrow morning, and lay on my narrow bed. The room itself was probably nice when it was first built. Though fairly small, the chipped pain was dull white with faded blue trim. The floor was wooden, but had a blue rug by the bed. There was even a window over the old, rickety desk. Everything would have been splendid if it wasn't so old and filthy. Granted, I could have cleaned up, but…well…as embarrassing as it sounds, cleaning the room was very difficult for me. I'd start one task, then suddenly, I'd forget about it and start another one, then forget about that one…until eventually I'd snap out of it, realize nothing was getting done, and just give up. I flung my shoes off and sighed, turning to the night table.

"Motherless son of a-" I rolled off the bed and crouched behind it, peering over the top to stare at the giant rat that was currently eating the leftover food I had left there from that morning.

"You're just a mean thing, aren't you?" I declared, standing up and marching around the bed to glare down at the creature, "I barely have enough money to eat as it is, and you're…well, you're…wasting my money! That's for me to eat!"

The rat looked up at me, whiskers bristling innocently, and I sighed.

"Fine. Eat it…but don't let me see you in here ever again, got that?"

I went back to my bed and lay down, trying to fall asleep with a rat the size of a large rock only a few feet away. I must have failed miserably though, because the next thing I knew, I was dreaming.

"Catch me, catch me…"

_I looked around. I was outside, somewhere, and someone was calling to me, though who it was, I had no idea._

"_Don't jump," I said, looking around wildly, "don't jump until I know where you are!"_

"_But…you always catch me."_

"_I…I can't even see you."_

_The voice scowled, "I thought you were smart-it's your job to be smart and help the Queen, isn't it?"_

"_I-I-I…"_

"_Catch me!"_

"No! Don't!"

Then I woke up and got scared of the rat…and then I remembered it was the same rat from before and calmed down slightly. It had finished my leftovers and was sound asleep on the plate.

"Well, at least one of us is content," I grumbled, rolling over in bed and trying to get comfy, even though my half-a-mind was buzzing like a swarm of bees. Someone wanted me to catch them from somewhere, and I was scared for them. But who was this person in my dream? For a few seconds I thought it was the voice of Lucy, but then I realized it was another young girl, one who I loved more that the giggling thing that was Lucy number Two. I had no idea who the girl was though-and what was this about me having to be smart? Smart enough to advise the Queen herself! The entire dream just made things frustrating for me-so frustrating that I went off to work without cleaning off my door. Needless to say, Martha was not impressed.

"That's it, headcase, I've had enough of this nonsense with you!"

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" I said angrily, "someone last night…"

"That's been up since last night?"

Oops. I nodded, biting my lip. Now I was in for it.

"And cleaning it up once you saw it didn't occur to you?"

"Well-I-uh…" I sighed, "it was…late?"

"That's it. You're out of here!"

"What, but I-I'm paid for the next month!"

"Just enough time to work out where you'll go next," was the snarky reply, "now, wash those dishes and make your annoying presence worthwhile!"


	19. Chapter 19

I was dragged out kicking and screaming when my month was up, and then there was no where else to go

I was dragged out kicking and screaming when my month was up, and then there was no where else to go. So, with as much dignity as a man with half a brain who was thrown out into the streets could muster, I flung what few possessions I had over my shoulder and decided that I would take Marcus' advice and head to Central City. After all, it couldn't possibly be any worse than what I'd been through before.

"Follow the Old Road," Marcus told me before I left.

"Well…OK…what road is the Old Road?"

"The Brick Route leads to Central City, and you should come across it after a day's journey north. Just…make sure you don't get distracted."

"Right. Brick Route. North. No distractions," I nodded, staring at the wall of trees before me that was the woods, "but…I thought you said I had to take the Old Road."

"The Brick Route and the Old Road are the same thing, Glitch. It's the main thoroughfare in all of the OZ."

"Oh…right…the main what?"

"Hang on, give me your hand."

I obeyed, sticking my hand out, palm up. Marcus took out a marker and wrote 'straight north, then follow the Road'. I looked at it and smiled; I wouldn't forget now that it was literally written on me.

"Not unless someone cuts off my hand, anyways," I joked, when Marcus explained his actions to me.

"Don't jinx yourself now, I think you've been through enough."

"Why can't you come with me?"

"I move out for battle tomorrow morning. I'm sorry, Glitch, but I'm needed."

"To take down the people who did this to me in the first place."

"Exactly," he nodded.

"Well," I shrugged my shoulders, "Off I go."

"Good luck, Glitch."

I nodded my thanks and headed off into the woods, fully intending to reach the Brick Route successfully.

What Marcus didn't count on was rain. Halfway through my journey to the Brick Route, the heavens opened up and gushed all over me.

"Oh, for the love of-" I looked around, shivering and wrapping my coat closer around me, "-why haven't I arrived yet? Where…where do I have to go again?"

I looked down at my hand, only to find it black and streaky-the directions had been washed off.

"Oh, this is just cruel!" I cried, looking up at the clouds, "What did I do in…whatever life I had before this one…to deserve all this? I was a good man. I think. I know I must have been! I mean…how much could I have changed with only one half of my brain gone?"

I grumbled, bowed my head, and marched on, the mud sucking my boots to the ground, making actual marching a necessity. The weather only got worse, however, and soon night came, and with it fog so thick I could barely see the trees in front of me. More often than not, I wound up walking into them, apologizing, then realizing it wasn't a person and moving on.

"Oh, that's it; I'm never going to make in now! I'm lost…lost in the woods!" I stopped again, depressed. After all, I'd screwed up what Marcus had made out to be a simply journey. Use his directions to find the Brick Route and go to Central City. Fate, it seemed, had other plans.

"But I can't just give up here! I won't give up here! I know I'm a decent person who deserves a good life! I have…confidence! Yes, that's it! I'm a confident man! I can do this, I can-"

I took one step…then found myself whisked into the air. Panicking, I fumbled with the net that surrounded me, unsure as to who or what captured me.

"Hello?" I yelled, "Someone? Anyone? Get me down!"

But there was no answer and I was weak from all my walking.

"Please…" I called half heartedly, fully aware that I was off the ground and extremely afraid of this fact. My breath quickened and I looked around fearfully, "please…someone…anyone…please let me down…"

I felt woozy. Too woozy for my liking. It was making me feel lightheaded. I smiled at that thought.

_I'm lightheaded with half a brain_ I though weakly _hee-hee, I'm an air head!_

And then I passed out completely.


	20. Chapter 20

Something was poking me in the side, and to be honest, it kind of tickled. So I laughed. After all, that's what you do when something tickles you.

"It laughed!" someone belted, "what shall we do with it?"

"Look at its head?"

"Is it dead?"

"Don't be silly, he breathes!"

"But for how long? He was in our woods, and everyone knows that's wrong."

"He's not smart enough to be a spy?"

"Shall we let him by?"

I opened my eyes at this. People were standing over me and….rhyming? How strange. I was pleased to note that, wherever I was, I was on the ground. Flat on my back, in fact, and staring up at a group of short, strangely painted men.

"Hello there," I smiled, "my name's Glitch, on account of my synapses don't always fire right. Who are you people?"

"We are resistance fighters of the Eastern Guild!"

"Resistance? Like Marcus!"

"Who is this Marcus?"

"A spy, no doubt!"

"Let us make a carcass out of Marcus!"

"What, no! Marcus isn't a spy! He's a fighter!"

Why should we believe you, strange haired one?"

A spear was shoved under my nose and I gasped and fell back down, terrified. A few of them laughed.

"He's no threat!" someone cackled.

"I think we should keep him!" another said.

"As a pet!"

"A pet! A pet!" they chanted, and suddenly, the net was around me once more and I was being dragged off.

To my horror, I was put in a cage and hoisted into the air. The cage hung from a tree branch by one rope, which did absolutely nothing to make me feel safe.

"Oh come on!" I said, backing myself against the bars of the cage and trying to focus on my captors without actually looking down and getting the daylights scared out of me, "I haven't done anything to you…I don't think? And even if I did, I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!"

"You're just a play thing," one of the men grinned, then pulled out a large stick and began to poke at my cage, causing it to lurch back and forth on its feeble rope, "swing, play thing, swing!"

I wrapped my arms around one of the bars and shut my eyes.

"He's scared of being this high in the sky," someone noted, and everyone around him laughed.

"Why are you doing this to me?" I opened one eye feebly.

"Stop, stop," one of the men-he seemed to be in charge, at least when it came to the escapade that was tormenting me-held up his hands, "the toy asks questions!"

"Yes, yes, Glitch-the toy-is asking you questions!" I nodded hurriedly, "why am I here? Because, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be, you know…here."

"My people have been tormented by Azkadellia the witch."

"Me too! See? We can all be friends here!"

"Which is why I give them this play thing Glitch!" he turned to his men and raised his arms triumphantly.

"Oh, so I'm a distraction?" I rolled my eyes, "well that's just great. Misery loves company and all that fun stuff, but if it's all the same to you, can't you just find some other toy?"

"There are very few half brains wondering around this place."

"We like having our own headcase."

"Stop talking in rhyme!" I groaned, "it's weird!"

"The toy insults our ways!"

"We can make him regret that awful phrase!"

"Oh, now that was just weak," I grumbled, then clung on for dear life as they rocked the cage worse than ever.

Life with the Eastern Guild was only slightly better than life as a dishwasher in the sense that I received regular meals. Of course, it wasn't out of any sort of kindness, but out of the sheer need to keep their only source of entertainment alive and well. They even let me out of the cage twice a day to use the bathroom and to get some sort of exercise, though I was usually tied to a tree, which a thick rope around my ankle and a guard a few feet away to make sure I didn't try to escape. I was literally a pet to them, and the fact that I had a half a brain amused them. Granted, they really did need the amusement. I was usually able to hear the latest news, and every few days I would hear how a guild settlement was burned down and their people killed off or taken as slaved. It was all sad and tragic, and I would have had a lot more sympathy for them if it wasn't for the fact that I was forced to live in a cage and perform on demand for them.

"The headcase can play catch!"

"Huh?" I looked up from my thoughts, only to get a face-full of some sort of fruit. The younger guild members were laughing and throwing fruit at me.

"Hey, stop! You're making me all gross!" I wiped the sticky mess off of my face and frowned.

"Stop doing this! You bunch are dim!" an elder guild fighter emerged, "now someone shall have to go and clean him!"

The younger ones bowed their heads and walked off, and I was lowered to the ground and tied to my tree. Someone on a branch above unceremoniously dumped a bucket of water over my head and I winced; it was freezing.

"Thanks!" I called sarcastically, not enjoying the sensation of water leaking through the zipper in my skull. I swished my head back and forth, shivering, before being led back to my cage.

"You know," I said as the cage was rising back into the air, "there are simpler ways to get entertainment. Like…dancing! Why, I'm sure dancing would be a great hobby!"

A few people snickered and I sighed, defeated once again. Dancing? Why on earth would I suggest _dancing_ to guild fighters!

"You soulless creeps!" I yelled, crossing my arms, "ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

* * *

I don't know how long I was with the Guild Fighters, but I do know it was along while before I seriously attempted at escaping. Like a sort of wild animal, I was heavily guarded most of the time, so I had to wait for the perfect distraction, which came to me one bright morning when I was getting my weekly cleaning (more dumping of cold water and not much else). I was hunched against the tree, shivering at the cold water, while my guard and the man in the branches watched me, cackling. Somewhere in the distance, a cry was heard, and soon an elder guildsmen emerged, looking absolutely horrible.

"I come with a terrible story!"

"A story?"

"Of something bloody and gory! The mobats came from the sky and doomed three of ours to die!"

The man in the braches dropped the barrel, only missing me by inches thanks to me jumping out of the way in time. He climbed down.

"Who was harmed?"

"You musn't be alarmed…"

"But…"

The elder bowed and shook his head, "your brother was one of the three."

This has an instant effect, causing him to run into the woods, howling. The guard and elder followed out of concern for their friend, leaving me alone and tied to the tree by my ankle. I looked down at the knot and frowned. I didn't know much about knots, but it looked pretty undoable. I fidgeted with it just to be sure, and realized the water had caused the rope to swell, making it even harder than it normally would have been.

"Damn it all!" I sighed, kicking the tree, and hopping around on my good foot in pain. It was then that I tripped over the remains of the barrel and landed on my bum.

"Ow," I groaned, sitting up straight and looked around, "this is not my morning…"

I picked up a piece of barrel and grimaced, about to throw it away, when an idea came to me. I stared at the thing in my hand, synapses firing rapidly as I attempted to form a plan. I squinted at it, examined it, and then realized that bits of wood were held together by metal. Metal that broke on impact with the ground…metal that now had sharp, pointy edges that could be used to cut stuff!

"Stuff like rope!" I realized, and began to use the left over metal to saw back and forth at the rope. It's amazing that I managed to stay focused on the whole plan, with my lack of fully formed brain and the anxiety that the guard would return at any moment. Pressure tended to turn my brain into mush (not literally), but I guess my freedom was more important than my nervousness; either way, I managed to get through the rope and I ran into the woods without a second thought. I wasn't all that far from the campsite when I heard a cry of outrage.

"On no!" I whined, speeding up a little, "they've realized I've gone!"

Now, one thing about guild fighters is that they are wicked fast when they are in a group, so it didn't take to long for a search party to find me. I was starving after a long while of running, and the apples looked so juicy…how was I to know that the branch was actually a lever that sent another cage toppling down over me like a mousetrap?

"Oh!" I rattled the bars of the cage, apple forgotten on the ground, "No, please let me go, please! I don't want to be a pet anymore!"

"But a pet you are and a pet you shall always be!" one of them laughed, "take him back to the camp and don't mind his plea! He is ours-tie him to the cage this time so that he cannot enact a similar crime!"

"Right, escaping from a kidnapping is a crime, you freaky rhyming…freaks! You freaks of rhyme!"

So now, not only was I imprisoned in a cage suspended off the ground by a single piece of rope; I was now tied to the ceiling of the cage suspended off the ground by a single piece of rope. I was moving up in the world.


	21. Chapter 21

It was around midday and I was asleep. The guild fighters were more on guard than ever before, as Azkadellia's longcoats seemed to be moving deeper and deeper into the forest, snuffing out the lives of guildsmen everywhere. I really didn't care; these were people who tied me to the ceiling of a cage and kept me as a pet. As far as I was concerned, even if I was taken by longcoats, the worse they'd do is take out the other half of my brain and I'd simply be gone. It wasn't as if being in the world was serving me any good. I was stuck between two evils and with no chance of escape.

So, needless to say, when I was awoken by a terrible lurch, I figured the longcoats were lowering my cage and sending me off to my doom. Either that, or it was time to be a plaything again. I sighed and slowly opened my eyes. Well, it was the guildsmen that were letting me down, but it was to put another person inside the cage with me. My eyes widened at that. Company? Did they find another pet? Was I being replaced then? Would they let me go, or simply kill me? My mind was buzzing so loudly I couldn't even manage to open my mouth and ask about it! Then they began to raise the cage back in the air, my new companion banging on the bars the whole time. I winced, still tied up, and very scared by how she was rocking our cage.

_Hey there, Missy!_ I wanted to say, _this is my home too, so stop shaking it up!_

"Oh, give me a break!" she sighed, sitting on the cage floor and huffing like a small child. I felt a pang inside of me, but I wasn't sure why. She was a cure thing, I had to admit, though she was kind of messy looking, as though she'd fallen from the sky or something.

_Or from a tree_, I thought, _probably needed someone to catch her._

"Will Azkadellia attack from the East?" the guildfighter asked.

"Who?"

She didn't know who Azkadellia was? I bit back a laugh; even with only half my marbles and being far away from any sort of city, I knew what was going on around the Outer Zone! Still, her confusion made me feel all…squishy inside, like she needed help, and I really wanted to help her. I grimaced at the ropes holding me above her and sighed quietly.

"The sorceress Azkadellia, the one for whom you spy!" he sounded angry now, "from which direction will her men come; will they walk or will they fly?"

"How many times do I have to tell you guys that nothing you have said makes any sense to me?"

"Perhaps she is just a girl."

"Yes, I am, I'm just a girl!"

"Azkadellia has raided most all villages searching for the stone…"

I licked my lips. There was a pause, almost as if my fellow captive was trying to remember something. Inwardly, I encouraged her, knowing full well how frustrating forgetting something could be.

"Are we next on her list?"

This made the girl angry, though whether it was because her thoughts were interrupted or because she was still being accused of spying, I had no idea, "Look, I don't know about any list, but if this is how you treat strangers, I'm not surprised you have enemies."

I snorted, grateful that the guild fighters didn't hear me; it would have earned me enough fruit thrown at me to turn me into a walking fruit salad. My contemplating on how exactly fruit salad could walk was cut short, however, when I saw them pull out a locket. I don't know what it was, but the sight of a locket made me feel so angry that I actually bit my tongue to keep from crying out. I hated that little piece of jewelry with an unexplainable passion and I wanted to be free just to be able to throw it away myself.

"You know what, could you please put my locket down? It has sentimental value."

That made me feel even more annoyed; how could she value such a stupid thing? A trinket, that's what it was! A cheap trinket not worthy of being around her neck! I didn't even question my dislike anymore, instead I dug my nails into the wooden bars behind me and glared.

"Our scouts saw these two being pursued my longcoats on the old Brick Route to Central City!"

Central City! That's where I was going before they got to me! I remembered being lost and…the rain…but the road must be close then! If I could only get away…

"Or leading the longcoats there," another guild fighter added suspiciously.

She sounded hopeful at that, "Somebody saw my parents?"

"You say parents, I say spies!" he spat back, "there's only one way to know if she speaks truth or lies. Strap her to the flayer, and she talks or dies!"

"Warm up the blades…"

"Squeal as you peel, until the truth brings a deal!" and with that, they dropped the locket onto the ground and walked off.

"Hey!" she said, watching the locket fall, "You guys are out of your tiny miiiiinds!"

I frowned; I'd half-hoped they'd at least let me down for some food or something. But no, they were only interested in the new girl. Typical. The guildsmen ignored her cries, of course, but I was there and I completely agreed with her judgment. The new prisoner frowned and looked around the cage, and our eyes met. She didn't seem very scared of me, or even surprised, though I knew she hadn't noticed me before. I looked away self consciously. There was something about her eyes…I didn't want her to see me this way…

She rose and clung to the bars as the cage rocked slowly, "What are you doing-"

"-Up here?" I finished nervously, "little…ANKLE BITERS…thought it would be funny to keep me hanging around. Loosen that rope and I might have the last laugh."

The girl hesitated, unsure as to whether she could trust me, which-I'll admit-kind of offended me. After all, we didn't know each other, and I was trusting her to let me go; the least she could do was assume that her fellow prisoner wasn't some sort of…bad person!

"Come on, Doll," I said, "if mom and pop really are on the route to Central City than you're falling further and further behind."

"You know the way?"

"Sure!" (_Well, sort of_), "But it's kind of hard to give directions like this…unless you have a better offer."

She looked sceptical, but undid the rope anyways. I lurched back, narrowly avoiding the hole in the centre of the cage floor and dusted my hand off.

"What the hell?" she suddenly stared at me in disgust, making me even more self conscious than I was before.

"Hey," I tugged at my coat, "you aren't so hot on first glance either, honey!"

She just continued to stare at me with those big, blue eyes. It gave me the creeps.

"What? I-is there a problem?"

"Oh…um…your uh…" she looked at me nervously now, and the feeling of embarrassment was replaced with genuine curiosity. Did she see something I didn't? Something important?

"What?" I checked behind me just to be sure, and then looked back at her.

"Your um…" she laughed nervously, "your zipper's undone."

"Oh! I didn't mean to offend!" I gasped, embarrassed once more. I zipped my head back up and tapped it nervously. Great, now she was going to think like the people at the inn thought; that I was a half brained idiot who couldn't take care of himself!

"Got to be careful no to lose your marbles!" I joked, hoping to smooth things over a bit better. She responded with a blank look, making me even _more_ anxious, "but…uh…since the Sorceress made her medicos take mine, well…you flick the abacus."

I discarded the rope around my waist.

"Why would they remove your brain?"

That shocked me a little, but it also brought some relief as well. She didn't think I was hopeless! She was actually interested in me!

"Because of what I know," I said seriously. It would have been very inappropriate to suddenly be cheerful, seeing as how we were still locked up and all, "Or used to know…whatever it was…"

I looked away, depressed at the thought of it all, and when I looked back, the sympathy on her face made everything feel…better. It gave enough courage to introduce myself, anyways.

"Name's Glitch, on account of…sometimes my synapses don't fire right…sometimes my synapses don't fire right."

"You just said that."

"Did I?" I asked, faking humour, "there you go! Glitching again!"

"And here I was thinking this nightmare couldn't get any weirder…"

"This isn't a nightmare. This is the O.Z. The Outer Zone. Used to be a piece of heaven too, until Azka-D got her claws into it."

At the mention of Azka-D, the girl got excited, "Azkadellia!"

"Hmmm."

"The sorceress of darkness!"

"Yup."

"Village raider, brain thief!"

I was about to ask how she couldn't know about all this clearly obvious stuff, but was then cut off by a cry of "longcoats!"

We both lurched and looked down at the commotion below. Guild fighters were running this way and that, preparing to defend themselves. It was a perfect distraction for the girl to begin to slowly lower herself out of the hole in the bottom of the cage.

"W-what are you doing?"

"I have an idea!" she said excitedly.

My memory flared: _"What was that? Didn't you hear me say not to jump out, and that's exactly what you did! What if I hadn't caught you, DG, had you even thought about that?"_

"Hello?" I said, alarmed by the way the cage shook, as well as for her safety, "DG…it's too…it's too high to jump! I really…I really don't think this is a good idea…"

The cage began to swing, and all I could to was hold on and watch helplessly as DG dangled herself above the ground.

"Come back!" I called, "Come back right now!"

_It's hopeless when it comes to DG, you know that,_ my mind told me, but I ignored it. I knew no such thing! How could I? To my horror, she let go with a cry and for a split second, I thought she was going to fall. Instead, she grabbed for the nearby bridge and hoisted herself onto it. She'd made it through…and I had a strange sense that she'd had similar experiences before, though I knew I couldn't have known that for sure.

"Come on, we don't have much time!"

"Wait…wait for me…DG…" I managed to lower myself and get to the bridge with hardly any problems (much to my complete shock-I thought I was a goner, to be honest!).

"Come on!" she called again, and we hurried across the bridge.

"Quick, hurry, before they see us!" I kept whispering as we ran.

"Look, there's a rope!"

She began to lower herself, and I followed, wincing at the rope burn. Climbing…actually physical activity in general…just didn't seem to be my thing. I was grateful when my feet hit the ground, and I wobbled slightly. DG grabbed my arm and we ran, not stopping until we could no longer hear the sound of chainsaws and yelling. We then slowed down, both out of breath.

"That was…" she began, swallowing, "…close…"

"Oh yeah, way, way, way too close. I don't think we should do it again," I leaned against a nearby tree.

"We almost didn't go the first time if we'd taken your advice," she smirked playfully.

"Hey, you could have fallen and cracked your head open!"

"I knew I would make it," she said confidently. I licked my lips and cleared my throat. Her confidence-recklessness would almost be a better word-seemed so…familiar.

"So, you said you knew where Central City is, right?"

I snapped out of my thoughts, "Oh, yeah, of course!"

She looped her arm through mine, and a pleasant shiver went up my spine. I don't know why, but I liked having her close to me.

We walked for…I don't even know how long. At one point, I tripped over a stump and DG giggled.

"Oh, you think this is funny, do you?" I glared, dusting off my knees as I got up.

DG looked a little guilty and shook her head, "Sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"Nah, it's not your fault," I sighed sadly, "I'm just…"

"No! I think most people would have tripped over it! I mean…" she waved an arm at the stump, "it's just there!"

"You mean it?" I smiled and she put her arm through mine once more.

"Of course I do. I never lie."

And we were off again. I tried to remember what Marcus told me, but his instructions just weren't coming to me. No surprise there. I was pretty much useless. We continued out walk quietly, but not uncomfortably. Actually, it was really peaceful. Really, really peaceful…until DG spoke again.

"Are you sure you know the was to Central City?"

"The shining city on the hill? Sure!" I said cheerfully, "the shining city on the hill? Sure! The shi-"

"-You're glitching."

"Oh…"

I hoped I didn't sound to sad, because I didn't want to her to think I was completely helpless, "My noggin' wasn't always this way you know," I said, hoping to sound impressive, "in my hay day, I was government advisor numero one! I was the top dog's…right hand man!" I held out what I hope was my right hand before continuing, "it would have all been fine, but for…her…"

I looked around sadly. Her. I meant Azka-D, of course…what other 'her' could I be talking about? But normally talking about Azkadellia made me angry, not…sad...like I'd lost something special.

"But her…?" DG pressed lightly.

"But her…" I repeated, unsure of what to tell her. Of course, one of the best things about being a half-brained idiot is that your mind always comes up with interesting things to keep you occupied, "I would love a fresh ear of corn with some butter right now, wouldn't you-?"

I stumbled over something. How rude! Why would there just be a stump right there where anyone could walk into it?

"You said you knew your way to the old Brick Route," DG said.

"Well of course I do! It's only the main thoroughfare in all of the O.Z.," I turned to DG, dreading that she would tell me what I failure I was, "…why?"

"Because that's the same stump you tripped on hours ago. We've just gone in a big circle."

"A circle…not again!" I threw my hand in the air, "the road is somewhere around here, I-I-I know it!"

DG let out a sigh and I turned to her. I don't know what I intended to do, but suddenly the frustration of the situation and the sadness at the mention of this mysterious 'her' lifted, and I smiled.

"You look familiar; have we met before?"

_A/N: OK, so as you may have noticed, I used the dialogue from the extended scenes (and if you didn't notice...that would explain the extra stuff that you didn't see on TV).  
Also, just so that you all know, I am not going to rewrite all of Tin Man from Glitch's P.O.V.  
Where and when will next chapter take place? Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and find out, now won't you?  
Until next week!_


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Before we begin this week's chapter, I want to clear something up. I think a mistake was made at the end of this scene, so I did my best to work around it. I watched this part over and over and over, and I realized that before Glitch's panic attack at the end, there's a part where Raw connects him to the machine again, yet when he's actually freaking out, he's clearly not connected to it...so I sort of worked around it. Just in case anyone got confused._

I inhaled, shuddering slightly. Where was I? I felt…warm. Almost tingly.

"Glitch," a voice was saying, "I need you to remember something for me."

Who was that?

_Cain._

I didn't open my eyes. I was back. I was back, yet I knew it wasn't permanent. I remembered everything: I had lost my brain, I had lost DG…but she was back, and we were stopping Azkadellia! I had a job to do here…and when my job was done, I'd be gone again. Half of me, the half that I'd missed to so many years now, would be gone and I would be forced to only dimly recall the warmth of being complete again.

"Glitch, can you hear me?"

"My name isn't Glitch," I opened my eyes regretfully, "it's Ambrose."

"OK, Ambrose…I need you to remember how you designed the sunseeder, and how to shut it down."

I stared resolutely ahead, completely aware that if I moved form Raw for one moment than all this would be gone, possibly forever. I was also completely aware that the situation was serious and that if I had to sacrifice the half of my brain that was in the case before me, there would be no question as to what would happen to it.

"Do you see the keyboard numbers that control the light pulsing?"

"Yeah, there's about a million of them…which ones do I turn off?"

Cain's tone did nothing to reassure me of his capabilities, and though I knew that completing this mission was the only hope I had of actually having my brain truly restored to me permanently, I did not even think of suggesting somehow altering our positions so that I could attempt shutting it down myself. I was selfishly addicted to being myself again, even if it was only for a few fleeting moments.

"Proper shut down sequencing to reverse light pulsing is imperative!" I said urgently.

"OK, OK, which numbers?"

"10-66…14-18…16-66…"

"It's working!"

I felt triumph. Everything would be well again…I would get my brain back…Azkadellia would be free of the witch controlling her…and DG….DG and I…we could… "17-89…"

Cain laughed and I was tempted to both join in and cry out. After all, once this was done, Raw would disconnect me from the machine and I would be forgetful once more. Or at least until they put my brain back together. Yet they couldn't put my brain together unless Azkadellia was defeated.

"And the last number," I said nervously, "to reverse light pulsing…"

"Yeah…"

Behind me, the doors swung open and out of the corner of my eye I saw Cain fall. There was the feeling of Raw lurching away as electricity shot though him.

_NO!_

The cold that followed was unbearable. I knew that there were numbers that I was supposed to know, but I couldn't remember any them, let alone what I was supposed to do next. But I remembered being…complete. I remembered being me, and to be taken from that again was more painful than the guard holding me captive.

The cold did not last long, however, for one of Azka-D's imprisoned Viewers was forced to connect me to the machine again. Warmth shot up my spin once more, but the fear didn't go away, for I knew that no matter what I did, all my information would be used against me in pursuit of keeping my brain and my life out of grasp.

"17-89…16-66…" the Viewer called Kalm said sadly. I pitied him somewhat, but my basic need for self preservation outweighed this, "14…18…"

"Twenty!" I screamed in panic, "Twenty Five!"

"Shut him up!" the Alchemist ordered, and a large gloved hand was clamped over my face.

"One more number Kalm."

I struggled both mentally and physically. He couldn't get than number!

_No, I can't let this happen. I can't forget again! I can't! DG, I need to remember for DG! And for Az, and…and the Queen and King! For my family! My real, true family! 38, 79, 67, 99, 10, 100!_

"I can't find it!" Kalm said tearfully.

"I need the final number for full power!" he barked, and Kalm was electrocuted.

"13…85…"

The anti-sunseeder urged to life once more and the Alchemist's face twisted into a triumphant smile as he watched my machine be used for such an evil act. There was a moment's pause, and my heart sank at the realization that this was my final time being me again. We were defeated. DG and I would never be together, and I would remain a headcase until the day I died (which would probably be very soon, anyways). So, naturally, it came as a shock when everything slowed down. The machine was still functioning, but the power, seemingly of it's own accord, seemed to decrease. The Alchemist's face fell slightly in confusion, and I-still mercifully connected to the machine via Kalm-shared this confusion as well.

Cold! Horrible, terrible cold, and I was the Glitch version of me again. Cain had killed my captive, and I wanted to show them just how angry I was at being half brained again. I turned and fought against the next guard, using every spec of rhythm I could for this moment. I'd beaten him back, and then wanted to take on the Alchemist. After all, he was the one who had put his grubby fingers in my head in the first place, when I was begging for him not to. I turned, felt the most painful stinging sensation flow through me, and everything went black.

* * *

A sharp slap to the face, and I was back.

"Glitch! Glitch, wake up!"

I rubbed my face, outraged. Why would some random person slap me? Didn't they see that I was _resting_?

"Do I know you?"

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Cain!"

"We need that last number to reverse the beam, now think!"

I was hoisted to my feet and brought back over the to the machine.

"The number, Ambrose, the number!"

Raw hooked me up to the machine once more, but by then I was so scared that it didn't matter in the slightest. Even with both halves of my brain working together, the number couldn't come to me.

"I-is it my locker combination?"

"Come on!"

"My parent's anniversary…I-I can't think!" I could lose my mind, everything could be lost! Everything! There was so much pressure! I made the number something important to me, I knew that! Something that held significance to me.

"You can do this!" Cain insisted.

"I can't think!" I began to hyperventilate.

"I know what to do…" Cain made for his gun and aimed it at the other half of my brain, "if we can't reverse the number, I'm going to shut it down. I'm sorry, Ambrose."

I watched him in horror; everything I cared about would be sacrificed to save the Outer Zone! Cain would kill the other half of me, and I would be a headcase forever!

_Got to think…got to think…my uncle's death…or his birthday? Birthday, birthday…_

"No…wait…TWELVE-OH-EIGHT!" I cried out, a huge grin crossing my face, "the Queen's birthday, of course! Commence the reverse light pulsing!"

Cain made for the machine, and I turned to Raw, still grinning.

"Everything going to be alright now," he said.

"I know," I couldn't even put on a serious expression, "come on; make me a brainless idiot one last time, would you?"

Raw smiled and the sense of hope and happiness remained with me, even if I couldn't remember the last umber anymore. It didn't really matter now anyways, since the machine was shut off. Kalm scampered out the door, happy with his own freedom, and Raw, Cain, and I went to go find the royal family. As we walked down the hallways, I could hardly contain the bubbly feeling inside of me. It almost felt like I was about to start to fly, it was so amazing! We'd won, and everything was going to be alright again, I could just feel it!


	23. Chapter 23

We'd returned to the castle shortly after the witch was defeated, and the Queen was beginning to plan how they were going to undo all the magical and physical damage. Of course, if I'd had my full brain, I would have been in meetings with her, helping her. Being useless really made me upset, and I spent most of the time in what I was told were once my rooms, even though I didn't really remember them. I was all set up for surgery the next day, and even though I was happy about the idea of having a full brain again, a part of me was scared out of my half mind. What if things went wrong? What if they couldn't put it back? What if I died on the table? What if they couldn't put it back…"

"Glitch?"

I jumped at the sound of a voice. I had been alone, worrying to myself, and apparently playing with my bed sheets, for even though I couldn't remember going near my bed, I looked around to find myself standing in my bedroom with my sheets wrapped around my hands.

"Do I…" I tilted my head to the side, "Oh, DG!"

DG frowned, probably because I'd almost forgotten her name, "I was out there knocking and knocking and you didn't answer, so I just came in."

"Oh, OK."

"What have you been doing in here? No one has seen you for hours and mom wants to have some sort of pre-fully-restored-Ambrose party."

"She…what?"

"I don't know, it seemed like the best thing to call it. A party in your honour."

I nodded, "That's nice of her."

"She's a nice woman."

"That she is."

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"Glitch," DG crossed her arms, "no one has seen you all day and you go under the knife tomorrow."

I shuddered at the word 'knife' and sighed, "Nothing. I've just been worrying my pants off, that's all!"

DG raised her eyebrows but didn't respond, so I lay on my bed and sighed again.

"What if things go wrong?" I asked, "What if I'm like this forever?"

"Well," DG sat next to me, "I don't know about this Ambrose person…mom says I should get all my memories back soon…but I know you Glitch. If you were stuck like this, I wouldn't be disappointed."

"I would."

"Glitch, even with half a brain, you're the smartest man I know."

"I am?"

"I've told you this before, remember?"

"Oh…right," I nodded, not actually remembering at all.

"And there will always be a place for you here."

"Not if I'm useless. The Queen could never hire me back."

DG's eyebrows knitted together in confusion and she took my hand, "Now who said anything about my mother?"

"I don't understand."

"I would make a place for you here. You belong here as much as I do."

"No, DG, I don't-"

"-Don't argue with me, Glitch, I'm a princess," she grinned, then gave me a hug, "nothing will go wrong tomorrow, you shouldn't worry so much."

I laughed nervously, tentatively patting her on the head, "Yes, well, with only half my marbles, I can't really think of other things as easily."

"Stop putting yourself down," DG said, rising and pulling me up with her, "you're worth more than that."

"You think so?"

"I know so," she grinned, "now, can we please go to your party? There's a huge chocolate cake and Az made a joke about something called princess stew."

I blinked, "I don't get it."

"Me neither," she said, "but it sounds pretty funny."

"It sounds familiar."

"That too."

* * *

The party itself was not a huge thing; the royal family, Cain, Raw, Jeb, some of Jeb's men and Raw's Viewer friends were the only people on the guest list. Cain didn't look overly thrilled to be in such a happy place, and Azka-D kept twitching nervously, as though at any moment we would forget that she'd been possessed the whole time and attack her with all we had. Raw and the Viewers were simply celebrating their freedom, and with the exception of the King and Queen coming over and wishing me good like (because apparently lying down while your head gets cut open is a skill?), no one really cared who the party was for. Too be honest, I didn't mind one bit, because having everyone come over and talking about my upcoming surgery would not make me feel any better.

"You know, for a guy who has a whole party in his honour, you look like you're at a funeral."

I rolled my eyes and turned to Cain, "Gee, what gave you that impression?"

"Well, you're staring at a wall, and you've been holding that plate of cake for ten minutes without touching it."

I looked down at my hands, "Oh! Where'd this come from?"

"The buffet table. Where the food is."

"Hey, these things may be obvious to you, but they aren't to me…yet…"

"They will be soon though; I'd have thought you'd be more excited."

"I…I keep thinking of how it could go wrong."

"Well, that's not fair."

I looked at Cain, confused.

"I'm supposed to be the pessimistic one."

"I guess not."

"Well, as long as I don't have to have your wide-eyed optimism."

I smiled slightly at that, and shook my head.

"You know, DG's been watching you this whole time."

I gulped, "O-oh?"

"Yeah. I think you should dance with her."

"B-but there's no music or anything."

Cain sighed, "I thought rhythm came from the soul."

"I-I-I-"

"You said it, not me."

"I-I-I-"

I found myself being nudged in DG's general direction, and I stiffly walked over.

"Hi Glitch. Having fun?"

"I-I…h-hey DG."

"Glitch, are you OK?"

"Peachy!" I said all too brightly and a little too loudly.

"Right…"

"So, do you, uh-doyouwannadance?"

DG blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"DO-do you want to dance. With me. Here."

DG looked around the room, "I don't hear any music."

"R-rhythm comes from the soul, not from music."

"OK."

"What?"

DG shrugged, "It's your party. We can dance if you really want to."

"Um…" I took her hand and prayed I wouldn't glitch as I led her to the centre of the room. She laughed, probably at my nervousness, and put her arms around my neck.

"Well then, lets see this rhythm you were telling me about."

I hesitated, and then suddenly there was music playing. I looked around, eventually noticing Cain, who winked back at me. I sighed with relief and put my hands on DG's waist, grateful that I wasn't going to look like a total idiot.

"I think we started a trend," DG giggled after we had danced for a while.

"Hmmm?"

"Look to your left."

I did. There was nothing there.

"Your other left."

Oh. That would make more sense. I looked to what was actually my left (hey, how's a headcase supposed to know?) and saw that the King and Queen were dancing, as well as a few of the resistance fighters. Azkadellia looked stunned beyond belief when Jeb politely asked her to join him on the dance floor, and Kalm was clapping awkwardly along with the beat.

"Well, rhythm comes from the soul. Everyone has is," I said happily.

"And you were questioning your intelligence. Shame on you!"

I simply grinned back at her, any shreds of doubt leaving my mind at that moment. I was going to be Ambrose again! At that point, I just knew it!

I only wish my confidence stayed up sp high the next day.

"Glitch, you're shaking harder that you sis when this place was covered in ice," DG said as she walked me down along with Cain and Raw. They figured it would be right for them to go, seeing as how we'd gone through more or less every other challenge together.

"I'm really scared," I confessed, fear leaving absolutely, positively no room for shame at all.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Cain sighed for the billionth time. I could tell he was trying hard to be sympathetic, but he was never really good at putting up with complaining to begin with.

"Th-they could mess up the half-brain that I do have! What if I die?"

"Glitch no worry," Raw patted my shoulder reassuringly, "Glitch want more to be Ambrose."

"Yeah, that's true…but still…scared!"

We stopped in front of the large double doors and I gulped loudly. This was it.

"Glitch," DG turned and gripped my shoulders, "you will be fine."

"Yeah, I know," I bit my lip, "so…uh…what will you all be doing while I'm…in there?"

"Raw help Viewers make new lives," Raw said, nodding slightly, "they need second chance at life."

"I'm going to spend some time catching up with Jeb," Cain said with a satisfied smirk.

"And my family is going to help me get back my memories," DG said, licking her lips nervously.

"So we're in the same boat then?" I said half-jokingly.

"Well, mine is a less extreme boat. More like a canoe, really," she shrugged, before hugging me, "but we'll all be here when you wake up, I swear it. Things are going to be OK."

"I know, Doll," I let her go, and then turned to the rest of the group, "well, say goodbye to Glitch."

"Who's saying goodbye to anything?" Cain asked, smiling.

"Well then…see you soon?"

"Sooner than you think," DG grinned.

I nodded and, taking a deep breath, walked through the double doors. I wasn't sure what I'd be when I walked out, but I knew it had to be better than how I was now.


	24. Chapter 24

I awoke, but kept my eyes shut. My head felt like it was buzzing, but not unpleasantly. In fact, everything seemed downright perfect, so much so that I didn't want to move. I knew I was lying in a bed-a real bed, not the ground-and that I was comfortable. I also felt rather woozy, unnaturally woozy, as though I'd been drugged. That thought lurched me out of my comfortable state. My last experience with being drugged was not a happy one. It was the surgery to remove my brain.

_Hold on...I can remember! I remember everything!_ I took a deep breath. I realized that I was back. Completely back. For good. The woozy feeling was likely from painkillers and...and I was in the hospital wing of the castle! I knew where I was! Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes, blinked a few times to clear the haze, and then looked up to see three people watching me intently.

Cain and Raw were both right by my bed, grinning down at me like idiots, while Azkadellia was against the wall, looking nervous and guilty.

"Why so shaken, Azka-D?" I asked, propping myself up on my elbows and smirking, "you look like you've just gone and stolen a dozen fruits from the cook."

"Ambrose," she said, rushing over and hugging me, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't...I didn't..."

Azkadellia began to sob quietly into my shoulder and I patted her back.

"Its fine," I smiled, kissing her cheek, "it wasn't you."

"But I helped her. I helped her...she tempted me and I gave in!"

"Sssh..." I rubbed her back, "you were young...it was a long while ago..."

Azkadellia moved back, sniffling, and Raw put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Alright there, Tin Man?" I asked, turning to Cain.

"Better than ever, Zipperhead."

"Not anymore," I scoffed, rolling my eyes and tapping my bandaged head lightly.

"You'll always be Zipperhead in my mind."

"Not a comforting thought," I sighed, looking around the room. Someone was missing, and noticing this, the smile vanished from my face. She wasn't here; why wasn't she here?

"Ambrose sad," Raw suddenly said, and all eyes in the room were on me, worried.

"Where is my fiancée?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Cain and Raw shifted uncomfortably.

"Gee...Ambrose I didn't know you had a...a fiancée..." Cain trailed off and looked to Raw, who also seemed baffled.

"We only told her yesterday," Azkadellia sighed and bit her lip, "she pretty much kept to herself after that, so I don't-"

"-I'm here," a soft voice from the doorway said. Everyone turned to the doorway and I felt anxiousness creep up the inside of my stomach. There stood DG, looking as nervous as I felt.

"DG?" I asked.

"Ambrose," she nodded back, biting her lip.

"Do you-"

"-I remember," she nodded, "I remember everything."

My nerves subsided slightly and I smiled, holding out my arms to her, "DG..."

"Ambrose!" she ran to me and I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her hair. DG hugged me back, snuggling into my shirt and grinning.

"I missed you so much, doll," I smiled down at her, caressing her face.

"You didn't remember me," she teased back.

"I still felt it though...all the time..."

"I missed you too."

I kissed her forehead and she sighed.

"I'm not little anymore, Ambrose," she said, looking up at me with those large, blue eyes. I stared back at her, and without another second's thought, I kissed her full on the mouth. She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and I sighed, absolutely content to remain with her forever.

"Um..." Cain awkwardly cleared his throat and we slowly broke apart, looking up at him, "I...don't mean to interrupt...but..._DG_ is your wife-to-be?"

We both nodded, grinning at each other.

"They were destined to be together since Ambrose was a young man."

The Queen and King entered the room, holding each other's hands and looking pleased.

"Welcome back, Ambrose."

"Thank you sir," I nodded, and then turned my gaze to the Queen, the one who'd given me such an amazing life and family in the first place, "your majesty."

"You've been sorely missed, my loyal friend."

"I'm glad to be back," I nodded, smiling up at her.

"It's a relief to hear that, because I really could use my Advisor."

"Mom!" DG protested, "Can't we have our wedding and honeymoon before you make my husband become a boring work-a-holic again?"

Everyone laughed, including me.

"Of course, my angel," the Queen looked as though she wanted to jump at the thought of her youngest getting married, but propriety restricted that, "I'll...leave you two to plan, shall I?"

"Come on, all of you..." the King nodded to the door and everyone followed him, Az practically dragging a stunned-beyond-belief Cain.

"Have fun you two," she winked, before closing the door behind her.

DG turned back to me, biting her lip mischievously.

"Don't look at me like that," I teased, "I'm steal healing and under the influence of a vast number of painkillers."

"Well then, I guess it would be entirely improper and unprincess-like for me to take advantage of you right here and now then, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, most definitely," I nodded seriously. We stared at each other for a moment and then I looped my arm around her waist and pulled her close, kissing her deeply.

When we finally broke apart, I flipped up so that she lay beneath me and she giggled up at me.

"You sure took one hell of a leap there, doll," I said, burying my face in her neck.

"And you caught me and helped me...like you always do..." she sighed.

"And I always will," I looked back into her eyes.

She reached up, twirling her fingers through the hair poking out from beneath the bandages, "I'm counting on it."

I leaned forward, kissing her once more. My now intact brain went blissfully blank, and the warm feeling that I'd missed in my cold Zipperhead days returned, and stayed from that day forward.

_A/N: OK, so, first of all: Sorry the update is so late! I hate packing. Packing is evil. I wish I had super object teleporting powers that prevented me from having to pack.  
Second of all: I hate to say it, but the story is very close to being almost done.  
Actually, very, very close.  
Actually, very, very, very close.  
Actually, there's only the Epilogue left.  
So sit tight until Thurdsay for the end of the story!_


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: Well, this is it. The epilogue!  
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed. I think you made my head 2 sizes bigger than it was before.  
I really hope you all enjoyed this story, because this will not be the last you see of Ambrose. There will be more, oh yes rubs hands together in an evil way much more!  
Enjoy!_

**Epilogue **

I sighed and walked up to the gazebo. DG was sitting on the steps, looking out over the beautiful landscape that was Finaqua. She smiled up at me as I sat down next to her and wrapped my arm around her waist to pull her close.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked.

DG leaned her head against my shoulder and sighed, "It was always my dream to come here with you."

"I remembered; why do you think I picked this place for our honeymoon?"

DG pushed my hair behind one of my ears and sighed, "Do you ever feel bad about it?"

I blinked, "About what?"

"Forgetting all this," she sighed, waving her arm out to the scenery before her. The sun was setting, and everything seemed perfect and peaceful, "like...despite what was done to us we still should have known or...something? Am I making sense?"

"Crystal clear, doll," I kissed her forehead and sighed, "and I never really forgot everything. Neither did you. We just...lost our way for a bit, that's all."

DG nodded into my shoulder and looked back out over the lake.

"Are you ready to go back to being a princess?" I asked after a moment's pause.

"Oh yeah," she nodded seriously, "I can get used to being royalty. Can you go back to being the Queen's advisor numero one?"

I winced, "Don't remind me of that."

"But-but...you were the top dog's right hand man!" she held up her left hand and giggled.

I shook my head, "At least I don't take directions from dogs."

"It was Tutor!"

"You didn't know that!"

"You followed me anyways!"

"I had half my brain, Deeg!"

She scowled, then kissed the tip of my nose and grinned.

"You're just...amazing."

I blushed and was about to tell her just how amazing _she_ was, when she cut me off by practically throwing herself at me. Not that I minded, of course; this was the kind of distraction I could appreciate, no matter what state my brain was in.

"Seriously you two, can you cut it out for one second?"

DG, who was now laying half on top of me, looked up. I followed her eyes and saw Cain, Raw, and Azkadellia in the distance. DG sighed, shook her head, and looked down at me.

"Don't look at me," I shrugged, "you were the one who wanted to bring them along."

"So much for the post-sunset sex," she grumbled, rising and dusting off her jeans.

"We can hear you, you know," Azkadellia sighed as we approached them, "and now...I think I want that gazebo washed."

"Actually, it's the swing you really have to worry about," I said.

"Oh, gods-Ambrose!" she groaned and rubbed her face, "Ugh!"

"I think we've had enough of this," Cain sighed, "I'm going back in."

"Raw follow," Raw nodded, hardly daring to look me in the eye. Azkadellia pulled a face at the two of us and followed behind the others, seemingly disturbed about something. DG and I watched them go quietly, and I didn't react to anything until I felt her hand slip from mine.

"Hey Ambrooooose?"

"Yeah?"

DG's blue eyes twinkled mysteriously, "Catch me if you can!"

"Oh no you don't!"

But it was too late-DG was already running off, no doubt over to some tree. I followed, calling for her while secretly delighting in every second of it. Sure, it wasn't battling evil witches or venturing in the woods, but when it comes to catching princesses out of trees, I'd say I was pretty damn good.


End file.
